Only You
by Phoenix Reaping
Summary: A story about an OC and an ex-agent. Written as a dare. Set in an AU.
1. Intro

**NOTE: So this is an AU. Between an OC and an ex-agent. It was written on a dare (had to finish it in a weekend) so if it seems rushed, it is. Sorry. If people are interested in it, I might grow on it and expand it, make it better, otherwise, it is what it is. Sorry. Much love. Leave a review! 3**

Overwatch was created to fight against the Omnic crisis. They fought. They won. Peace was restored for the time being. Then, Overwatch was dismantled, the agents hunted down, arrested or killed. Most of them went into hiding and everything seemed to settle. A decade later, the Omnic attacked again, this time much bigger and badder than before, they knew our tricks, new how to avoid them and counteract. Without Overwatch to defend, the world as we knew it was destroyed. The world was now nearly destroyed, most of the human population was killed leaving only a few thousand left, scattered to the corners of the earth.

A city was erected in what use to be Florida, the southern most tip. Sure it was hot as hell there, but the constant rain brought water, there could be no attack from land except from one side and plenty of escape routes via water, it also supported ships that would travel between the continents to bring people into this safe haven. Humans lived there, trying to return to what we considered normal, but life outside of the walls were different. What was once massive towering cities now lay crumbled, unsafe, it was a baren wasteland where mother nature soon took over.

It is known Overwatch agents still exist, and the humans that run into one quickly hunt them down, blaming them for not standing against the second invasion. Not seeing the fault in themselves.

I was never an Overwatch agent, I was considered too dangerous to have as apart of the team. The truth, I preferred working alone and when I drew up my weapon, it was only for a cause which I believed was just. I helped Overwatch fight against the first attack and when the second attack came, I did my best to fight against it, but failed. Now, I wandered alone, away from the soldiers surveying the land for food, survivors and if the chance, an Overwatch agent.

My birth name was Aura. I was born in Florida, so I knew it well, but I left that state. My Overwatch name was Phoenix and thus became the name I went by. I was a mage by class, specializing in fire magic and healing. My armor set was light, though adorns in reds and golds, a helmet masking my entire head that resembled that of a phoenix, two wings on my back, surgically placed on my back, were then armored in black and glowed a red then in use. Now, they remained forever clasped tight against my back, a dirty black cloak I wore at all times to hide my armor and a hood to hide my face. My choice weapon was a staff that, on the top, had a phoenix, wings spread, arching upward and resting between the tips of the two wings, a red orb was focused the magic. Flipping the weapon and a single press of the button shifted it into a long sword, had I need the use for it, but on my hip at all times a small pistol that was good enough in tight situations.


	2. Encounter

I roamed parts of North Carolina, I was looking for a temporary shelter, to rest up maybe a week or so. The small town I was in was empty, void of life, aside from the overgrowth of grass and ivy. It made good for hiding. I walked through a alley and heard voices, grabbing my gun I moved in to investigate. I stopped by an open door way and took a careful glance in. Seven soldiers stood there, weapons up, just past them on the ground sat someone in black, though I could not see who it was. I could tell they were holding their side, clearly injured.

"Sir." One of the soldiers said holding the comm button on the side of their helmet. "We've located a rogue Overwatch agent." He paused as if listening to his orders. "Yes, sir." He responded then turned to the agent, drawing up his gun. "Kill on sight. He has one bullet left so watch out." He ordered his recon team.

Gritting my teeth a moment, I took a deep breath, slipped the gun away and grabbed my staff, walking into the room. "Hello, boys." I chimed in and the quickly spun around. Without wasting a second, I swung my staff out hitting their guns as they began firing. I spun around them, killing as I went, stabbing out my staff or using stray bullets to kill their own members. When I thought they were all down, I heard a yell and someone charging, I was about to turn when I heard a gun go off and the soldier suddenly drop.

I looked over at the agent to see him staring at his shotgun, I moved over to him and he quickly raised the shotgun pointing it at me. This man was dressed entirely in black, even the small armor pieces he had were black, the only color on him was the skull helmet he had on that resembled an animal, a bull or goat, wasn't entirely certain, that was never touched so still had that bone color to it.

Chuckling, I walked up to him, but he kept the gun pointed at my head. I then kneeled beside him. "I have a gun pointed to you head, yet still you draw closer." He said, his voice more demonic than anything. It was deep and terrifying.

"One. If you were going to shoot me you would have done it already. Two. I know you only had one bullet left, which was so nicely put in that gentlemen head over there." I said and my eyes traveled to his side.

"I'm fine. Leave." He growled.

I set the staff on the ground beside me and leaned closer anyway, pulling his hand away. I saw the bullet wound and sighed softly. "If I don't remove that bullet it will poison you."

"Fine. Remove it then leave."

"Very well." I pulled a small dagger out of my boot and carefully wedge the bullet out, then picked up my staff pointing it at the wound, healing it shut. "There you go." I smiled and stood, waving my hand, I healed him up completely and placed the staff away on my back under the robe.

"Don't expect a thanks."

"Oh, I won't Reyes." He sharply looked at me and I chuckled lightly. "My apologies, I suppose you don't go by that name anymore, do you? What was it again? Reaper?"

"How do you know me?"

"We've worked together once or twice." I shrugged then lowered the hood exposing my helmet.

"Phoenix. Should have assumed. No other healer would have stopped to help me."

"Eh, not my business to know or to care why. I see a fellow in need and I help, that's cause enough for me."

"Even though I betrayed Overwatch?"

"And lead a rebel alliance against then? Again, not my business don't care." I answered simply. "I will leave you be now. Take care, Reaper." I headed for the door, "Oh!" I looked at him from over my shoulder. "You owe me one." I pulled the hood back up and disappeared out into the alley.

Several months passed by, I roamed from state to state, always moving. I avoided all signs of human life, not wanting to be bothered by it. One night, I was rummaging through a warehouse, a place I thought was abandoned, but it was a trap. Smoke went off and I shielded from it, coughing and trying to clear my throat. Gun fire started to rain over me and I dashed trying to find cover. Landing behind a crate, I grabbed my thigh to try and stop the bleeding, cursing to myself.

Taking in a deep breath, I heard clicks and slowly glanced up to see a row of twenty soldiers standing there, all guns pointed at me. One soldier walked up to me and forcefully ripped the cloak off of me then moved back. "Sir, we found her." A second pause. "Yes sir." He aimed down his sight and the other soldiers followed.

I felt something off all of the sudden and glanced down. A spot between us began growing darker as shadows began to seep from this hole. The soldiers seemed shaken by it and stepped back. Seeing a figure emerge from the shadow I suddenly freaked and ducked, laying flat to the ground. I heard several gunshots go off, then silence. Slowly sitting up, I saw Reaper standing there, but he ignored me and walked over to a soldier that was crawling away. He stepped on his hand that was reaching for a gun, then kicked him so he was laying on his back. Without wasting any more time, he fired a bullet into his chest, then tossed his guns away, empty.

I rest my head back on the crate and sighed, trying to relax. "We're even." Reaper said and I lifted my head to look at him but he was looking away from me.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I thought you didn't care, it wasn't your business." He said finally turning to look at me.

"I find it odd after a decade of never running across an ex-agent, I have suddenly run across you, twice."

"Would it comfort you to know I was following you?"

"More like creep me out." I mumbled glancing down at my leg. "Damn it to hell." I sighed and pulled out my dagger, though my hands were shaking from blood loss.

"You're useless." He growled walking over to me and kneeling down. Ripping the dagger out of my hand, he suddenly froze.

"All you do is-"

"Silence." He hissed and I did. Then, very suddenly, he picked me up and rushed for the door. "It's about to get very cold." He warned.

"Wait-what do you mean by-" I was cut off as his entire body shifted into an invincible shadow, and me along with it, the second we were out of the building. Then, the entire warehouse exploded in flames causing me to flinch.


	3. Out of Character

Safely away from the damage, he rest me down in a house, both of us back to normal. "If you're a healer, heal yourself."

"Doesn't work like that. While I am back to fighting fit, if I have an open wound I can't heal, I will still lose blood."

"That doesn't make sense."

"If I seal this wound by healing it, I will lock the bullet in and get sick." I growled. "And you dropped my dagger back there so...thanks."

He pulled one out off his belt and flipped it around before sticking it in a table at my side. "There."

"Thanks...I think." I reached for it and pulled it out going for the wound. Just as I was about to do it, he chuckled and grabbed my ankle suddenly yanking the leg upright. I yelped out in pain and he placed the ankle on the table. "Don't jerk it around so much!"

"Shut up." He said taking the dagger and kneeling at my side, the wound now at eye level for him. He pulled the bullet out and tossed it off to the side. "There, now heal."

"Yes, sir." I grumbled placing my hand over it. He stood and moved towards the door looking around. Silence hung in the air for a long few minutes until he turned to look back.

"We should stay here the night."

"It isn't safe." I responded. "they will be sending in more soldiers to figure out what happened. We are too close."

"And you can't walk." He said and we stared at one another for a moment. "Can you fly?" I shook my head. "You're useless."

"So I keep hearing." I frowned looking away. I heard him moving and then I was off the chair in his arms again. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying you to safety." He answered and then I went silent, only staring at him from the corners of my eyes. I was curious as to what he looked like underneath the skull, I knew what he looked like before, but what about now? "Why are you staring at me?"

"Curiosity." I mumbled.

"No, I will not take it off."

"Hence why I didn't ask, but that doesn't mean I can't imagine."

"Don't."

"Alright, sorry." I looked away fell into silence. It was an hour of silence before my head hit his chest and he growled looking down only to find me sleeping. Thoughts swarmed in his head a long moment and he grew annoyed, so he found a cave, rest me down and then headed towards the mouth of the cave.

In the morning, I opened my eyes and looked around to find I was in a cave. Standing, I stretched and checked my belongings, it was all still there. Looking around again, I did not find Reaper and sighed, only assuming as much. Though I was more annoyed I never got to thank him, and now I owed him one. Heading towards the entrance of the cave, I saw him leaning against a rock looking around. He was still here?

"You're finally awake." He said standing upright and looking over at me.

"Did you stay up all night?"

"I have no need for sleep. I constantly regenerate, so sleeping is useless." He muttered looking back towards the horizon.

"Um...well...thank you for last night. I owe you one."

"So you do." He said softly keeping his arms crossed.

"What will you do now?"

"Head to Gibralta." He responded uncrossing his arms. I didn't dare ask more. "Take care, Phoenix." He started walking away and I looked around a moment. Sighing, I rushed forward and started walking just beside him. "Are you going to follow now?"

"I owe you one. Better that I stick with you to pay you back."

"I don't need anyone to follow me."

"Listen." I snapped moving forward and stopping in front of him, forcing him to stop. "There are basically none of us left. We are alone, we are hunted and clearly outmatched. Omnic are still out there, soldiers are still out there. It's clear that alone we are struggling to fight them, but together? We can do so much more."

"And you trust me? Knowing I betrayed Overwatch? Knowing I could betray you as well?"

"I don't care that you betrayed Overwatch. If you thought, betraying Overwatch, was a just cause and something you believed was right. Then I will not argue against it. I have no loyalty to them and now, have no loyalty to whatever humans are out there now all I care about is staying alive, by whatever means necessary."

"I'm considered a terrorist."

"Did you kill innocent people?"

"No. I stole important items. Killed Overwatch Agents."

"Then why should I care? I shrugged. "The past is in the past. Everything that happened before the second attack is dead. All that matters now is survival."

For a long moment he stared at me then nodded. "Very well, just don't get in my way."

"Don't get in mine and we're even." I huffed crossing my arms. He walked around me and I turned following him in his destination.

A few days passed by and we traveled nearly entirely in silence, only speaking when we had to. I knew he wasn't much of a conversationalist, but it was still unnerving at times. In company, I like to speak to people, but I knew this wouldn't be the case with him. I respected who he was as a person and decided to stick to silence. That was, until one night, as we were passing through a town, we ran into a group of Raiders, humans who lived out in old cities and towns, collecting resources and killing anyone they saw. They lived to party and fuck everyone else.

"Let's sneak in." I whispered to him as we sat crouched on a rooftop.

"Why?" He hissed looking at me. "It's suicide."

"But fun!" I giggled moving to sit down. "There are resources in there we could use. This town used to be full of them and last I traveled through here, theses guys weren't here. So, they must have snatched them all. They could be of use to us."

"That doesn't change the fact that it is still suicide. There are easily thirty of them, armed with some of the best weapons and who knows what else."

"Ah, we'll be fine. We stick to the shadows, go unseen, grab the stuff and sneak right back out. Come on, I have faith in you." I winked at him before jumping down to the ground. Rolling his eyes, he jumped down and followed after me.

We were quietly sneaking through this base, all we needed was a few supplies and thanks to this base, it was the only place to find them. We stuck to the shadows moving through silently, undetected as we went, being safe about it. There were too many of them and only two of us. As we rounded a corner, he suddenly grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall, pressing himself close to me. For a second, I noticed shadows wisping off of him, he must of used his ability to mask us as shadow as a patrol passed. I watched him as he eyed the patrolling waiting for them to disappear. Once they were gone, he turned his head to look at me, both of us staring at one another, I felt him press closer but then he pulled away and took a step back.

"Let's keep moving." He whispered and I nodded.

"Right behind you."

"You have yet to tell me what we are doing here." He growled as we sneaked down a hall.

"Supplies." I mumbled stopping at a corner and peering over. "In here." We moved up to a couple crates which I broke open. Looking inside, I grabbed a couple energy pistols and then moved towards another crate, opening this one up, I stashed some food. "Alright, let's get out of here."

"That's it?"

"That's it." I said heading towards the door. We snuck out much the same way we came in, headed to the shack we turned into a camp for the night. It had everything I needed for my plans. I watched him stand by the door, keeping watch as I pulled out a roll of bread and bit into it. For the next hour or so, I ripped apart the energy pistols and separated them into groups. "Heya, Reaper?"

"What?" He asked not turning to look at me.

"Come over here."

"I'm not hungry."

"Yes, yes, I know all that, regeneration and stuff, this is different though." He finally turned to look at me, I am sure quizically. "Trust me, yea?"

"Fine." He huffed and walked over towards me.

"Good, turn around." Slowly, he turned around until his back was facing me, I then grabbed the bottom of his coat. In a quick toss, I threw his coat over his head, which caused him to let off a low growl. "Relax and stay still."

I stood and pulled out my staff, spinning it around I slammed it into the wooden ground as it began to emit a low light fire, just enough for me to see what I was doing. Kneeling back down I flicked the energy source on the back of his belt. "As I assumed." I sighed and grabbed a screwdriver prying it off. He said nothing as I replaced the energy source with a couple from the pistol, rewired everything and then put it all back together. Standing, I pulled the coat off his head and walked over to the table setting the scrap pieces there.

"What did you do?"

"Obviously you trusted me enough to work on it, you knew well enough what I did." I said and he ran his hand towards his back. "I replaced your energy coil, then gave it a bit more power to keep it from draining too much. At the same time, your weapons should replenish much quicker."

"Is that what we broke into there for?" He asked and I nodded.

"Also, these yum rolls." I chuckled biting into it and tearing off a piece. Turning my back on him I poked the old coil to see its life dying out. I felt a hand on my back and flinched spinning around to face him.

"Why do you keep your wings bound to your back?" He asked.

"They don't function as well as they used to. Since I can't completely control them, I bind them down so they stay out of the way." I answered shrugging lightly, but I took a slight step back taking the last bit of my roll. "Anyway, we should rest here for the night then continue on."

"That was the original plan." He said and I nodded moving to sit against the wall. I rest the staff between my legs, the top resting against the wall. Crossing my arms over it, I watched him for a long while, frowning lightly as he looked out the window.


	4. Backstory

"What's your story?" He asked and I finally looked away from him, thinking. "I know you were never an Overwatch agent, but yet you have all the qualifications."

"I knew they would be shut down, hated once they were made use of. I wanted no part of it. I fought the Omnic crisis alongside them, but my view points didn't align with them. When Overwatch split in two, 76 wanted all the Omnic brought in, had checked out to make sure they would never rebel again. To me, that wasn't right, they were sentient, they desire to make their own choices, so who are we to persuade them?" I shrugged lightly.

"And yet it led to the second Omnic crisis."

"Because 76 started bringing in Omnic. They disagreed with it and saw it fit the only way to stop the kidnapping, they uprose again and started killing. This time, they adapted and won." I stared at the ground. "I fought against the Omnic to protect families, children, humanity and its entirety. I killed only those who wished harm on the humans and healed those who helped aid and those injured. I was seen as an outcast, too dangerous to have as apart of the team. So, I was denied partnership. Then it was a simple matter of just doing what I desired to do, whatever cause I believed in, I went after."

"Had you asked me to join Blackwatch..."

"You'd what? Accept me? You had a healer as apart of your team, you didn't need a second. Plus, I rarely work well in a team." I rest my head back and closed my eyes.

"How did you get your abilities?"

"I was an orphan, raised by an Omnic who found me on the street. Explained that with enough meditation I could gain powers. So, I worked hard and gained the ability to heal around the age of eighteen. I then helped with the first part of the Omnic crisis, Winston saw my ability and gave me wings, with practice he upgraded them with armor, the rest of my power comes from an energy source in this staff, which runs on solar energy. Everything else was something I built."

"Where did you get the staff?"

"I built it, with the help of my Omnic parent."

"And what happened to your parent?" He asked turning to look at me.

I fell silent for a long moment, staring at the ground, frowning even further. "It was during the first Omnic battle. I wasn't there, I was fighting on the front-lines and...an Overwatch agent mistook him for a rogue Omnic, killing him on sight. I didn't know until nearly six months later when I was able to return. There was nothing left, not even scraps, they had pulled all the scraps together to melt down. It was my neighbor that told me. I decided then...I wanted nothing to do with Overwatch anymore. They couldn't even pay attention to its agents, they killed innocent Omnic. For what?" I tightened my hands around the staff and grit my teeth a moment. He was silent watching me until I eased slightly taking in a deep breath. "It doesn't matter, everyone's dead as it is."

"Then what is it you desire now?"

"Find the Omnic, stop the threat, help humanity grow again."

"You know another war may come."

"Yes, I am aware. Peace is never a fact, it will never happen. Not for long anyway, what matters is that humans, as a whole, do not go extinct. What would be the point? Humanity must thrive once more, rebuild, repopulate and move on. Hopefully learning from past experience."

"You are unique." He said suddenly causing me to look up at him. I waited for him to say something more but he didn't. We simply stared at one another for a long several minutes before he turned to look back outside. "Had I known of your existence, I would have taken you into Blackwatch."

"Doesn't matter now." I said taking a deep breath. "Anyway, we should get moving at dawn. No doubt they will notice their stuff has gone missing and will be on the search for it."

"Of course. It is still a long way to Gibralta."

"Yea, I know." Smiling lightly, I glanced up at him. "Reaper?" He turned to look at me from over his shoulder. "Thanks." I watched him give a slow nod then face forward again. Resting, I closed my eyes and was soon asleep.

It felt like the moment I closed my eyes, I was being shaken awake. "Phoenix, get up." Reaper said and I opened my eyes looking over at him. He was kneeling at my side a hand on my shoulder.

"What is it?"

"They discovered they were missing supplies. There's a group of ten searching house by house."

"Delightful." Slowly, I stood and stretched. "What's the plan boss?"

"Let's move on. If we kill them, it will draw attention we will have back up before we've downed them all."

"Alright." I nodded and placed my staff on my back. "Let's go." we snuck out of the town, headed onto the open road and walked along it the remainder of the night. Still, as the sun rose high into the sky, we never stopped walking. "Why all the sudden interest in my history?" I asked looking over at him.

"I remained curious. If we are partners, I want to know who I am working with, not some stranger I can't trust."

I stared at him, confused, "do you trust me?" He turned his head to look at me, but did not reply. "Good enough. Well, if it's an consolation, I trust you, even knowing who you are and what you've done. I have no reason not to." I shrugged lightly.

"I want to call you idiotic, slightly imbecile, and irrational."

"Call me what you will. Doesn't mean I can't trust the man I am working with. So long as I stay in my line."

"True. The moment you deviate from my path and if I should ever assume you would stand against me, I will not hesitate to put you down."

I giggled lightly, "oh, big bad reaper. You could put me down, but I would just resurrect." He paused his step and turned to look at me, so I did the same, now confused. "What? You did not know I could?"

"Healing is one thing, but resurrect?" I nodded. "Just yourself or allies?"

"Both." I responded with a shrug. "Not something I can do one after the other, but given some time, I could do it again." Smirking I stepped closer. "What did you think a Phoenix could do? It isn't just a myth anymore, devil."

"As I now know. This ability may come in handy down the road which makes you a bit more useful."

Pouting, I crossed my arms, "was I not useful to begin with?"

"I have not seen you draw your gun once and you have only healed me once. You cannot fly and your stealth skills need work. No, I have seen little use for you in this moment in time."

"Ouch." I sighed looking away from him. "I suppose you're right. But, I assure you, I am better than you see me as. I survived two Omnic attacks and defended my own, that should say something."

"Those stories, could very well be lies." I flinched suddenly and looked down. They weren't lies and I didn't need to prove that to him. Stories of Reyes, aka Reaper, were known far and wide. This man was dangerous, could kill with ease, disappear into shadow and even become and invincible rush of shadows on will. He controlled the darkness and nearly all feared him. He could beat nearly everything without so much as breaking a sweat, so the stories were told.

But, me? I was unknown. The only ones who knew my name were dead. I made no impact on the Omnic crisis, no impact on Overwatch. I remained to the shadows as a child of light, invisible to everything and everyone. I shouldn't have expected any less than him looking down on me and knowing nothing about me. I knew well enough he could have very well believed everything I told him was lies, but I knew the truth, wasn't that enough?

No. For some odd reason tugging on the back of my mind, I needed his approval, his trust. I needed him to know I could defend him and fight, that I was worth something. Would I ever get that chance?

A hand on my chin broke my thoughts and it forced me to turn and look up at the devil standing before me. He said nothing however and we merely stared at one another. "You have...potential." He said breaking the silence. "I won't know otherwise until I see you fight."

Smiling brightly, "Then I will prove myself to you someday soon, when we fight next."

He released my chin, "I look forward to it." Then began walking again. Chuckling to myself, I stepped up beside him and walked along with him.

The desert we walked in seemed endless. There was no town or city growing on the horizon, it was simply endless. Once night had settled we decided to stop and rest for the night, I slammed my staff into the ground to create a warming fire. Dim enough to not draw enough attention, but just enough to lightly warm the area. We lay side by side, however a foot or two apart, both of us staring at the sky, never once saying a thing.

I wanted to strike a conversation but hadn't found the proper things to say and it took me a long time to settle my thoughts and turn away, curling up to try and sleep. However, at some point in the night, he glanced over at me, to see my body shuddering just slightly and grew curious, of course I was a being of fire, I needed warmth more than what the fire was producing. He sighed and moved closer his side just barely touching my back and hoped that was enough body warmth.

In the morning, when I woke, my head was resting on something comfortable instead of the hard ground I remember laying on. There was also something curling up my back and resting on my shoulder. Tensing slightly, I decided not to move, not exactly sure what it was.

"Are you awake?" A voice asked and I slowly lift my head looking over to see I was resting on his chest, his arm wrapped around me.

"I'm sorry!" I said sharply and sat up turning towards him. "I didn't mean-"

"You were freezing." He cut me off and sat up. "I offered my warmth and nothing more." slowly, I watched him stand and I sighed looking down.

"Still..."

"Don't think anything of it. Let's get moving, we need to find a city soon."

"Yes, alright." I stood and pulled the staff out of the ground and we set off on our path again.


	5. Action to Reaction

~ **One month later~**

Finally, Gibralta, I had never been here personally but I knew of it, everyone did. I did not know the reason he needed to come here and knowing him, I dared not ask. It wasn't my business. The sun was just setting as we arrived and we would be safe here, we would make a temporary base here, stock up then go wherever he needed to go next. Though, I remained curious of his true plans.

Inside the main building, we stopped in the lab and I took a moment to look around. "This was Winston's lab..." I muttered under my breath.

"How astute of you." He muttered heading to a row of computers. Everything here was still active, running on it's own solar power. I took a moment to break away from him and head upstairs to a smaller lab. The walls lined with windows so I could occasionally glance down at him.I ran my fingers across the dusty table and frowned a bit, thinking. I knew this place well enough to have lived here, but now it was all but destroyed and empty, a cold draft moved through the building, there was no life.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind and I quickly began pulling parts together,placing them all up on a table. I then moved throughout the room, shutting and closing all the blinds to be left alone.

I turned on a few lights, set up the equipment I needed and then took in a deep breath. I unclipped my armor, setting it on an empty table until I was basically naked from the waist up, aside from a tight bandage around my chest. I grabbed a few tools, a extendable camera which I held between my teeth, sat down and prepared myself mentally. Very slowly, I pulled open my wings, gritting my teeth from the pain of it.

Then, I aimed the camera to view at my wings behind me, brought up the tools and began the long process of removing its armor.

An hour or so passed and I had managed only to remove a couple screws and a single small piece. It seemed like a hopeless cause, one I couldn't do myself at the least. The room suddenly felt cold and a shiver ran up my spine, I heard movement behind me then slowly glanced back. Reaper took form there, so I frowned and looked forward again, there was nothing but a row of computers between us, which blocked each other from full sight.

"You locked yourself in here." He said simply.

"Normally that means I desire privacy." I responded setting the tools down at my side.

He started moving around the computers, "what are you-"

"Stop." I said rather quickly and he did. "I don't wish you to see this."

"What is it you hide?" He asked curiously and continued moving around the computers, I couldn't move to stop him, or hide, if I wanted too. Once he saw me in full, he glanced at my back, where the wings connected to my back were covered in dark and disgusting bruises, lines of blood falling down to my waist line. Sighing, I dropped my head and closed my eyes, too ashamed to say anything. "What is this?"

"The armor on the wings were fueled by solar power and jet fuel. While I can continue to keep them charged in the sun, I cannot move them without fuel. As you are aware, there is no fuel left to use. Thus, I had to stop moving my wings, the armor was too heavy without the fuel. But now-"

"You're trying to remove the armor."

"Yes."

"You've barely made any progress since you started." He noted and I chuckled.

"Well aware of that, it is quite difficult to do when I can't see what I am doing, aside from this camera." I growled tossing it across the room.

"How can I help?" He asked suddenly and I glanced over at him confused. "I won't ask again."

"Um..." I thought a moment trying to process this unusual request. "There are a couple plates, remove the screws and take the plating off. But...carefully."

He nodded and came closer grabbing the tools, then set to work. After about half an hour, he removed all the screws from a single wing then set the tools down. "Be careful removing them please, just...be slow." He didn't respond but I felt his hands on my wings, then begin pulling at the armor. Gritting my teeth, I dropped my head, closed my eyes and braced for the pain. In a quick thrust, he pulled an entire section off and I winced, blood dripped from my mouth from biting my tongue and he paused.

"They are connected to your bone?"

"The structure, yes." I struggled to say. "It was the only way to make sure they stayed in place during flight and combat." I took a deep, shuddered breath, and tried to calm myself. "Go ahead." I gripped the edge of the table as he pulled off the second and third piece. By the end, my whole body was shuddering in pain but I made no sound. Everything felt like it was burning and when he released my wing it fell hard to the table, unmoving.

"Maybe we should stop for the night, do the next one tomorrow."

"No." I said through gritted teeth. "Don't stop."

He chuckled, "foolish bird." He then began the process of removing the armor of the second wing. After another long, agonizing hour, he tossed the last piece to the ground across the room. "You need to clean up. Heal."

"I need...to touch it..." I muttered, long-winded. My first wing began curling slightly, slowly and I winced throughout the process. He sighed and lightly grabbed the wing, moving and helping me curl it around. Lifting my shaking hands, I reached for my wing. He noticed my eyes were closed and with a hand, grabbed mine, placing them on a wound. A soft light began glowing from under my palm and healed the wound, he then moved the hand and we repeated the process until the wing was entirely healed, then did the exact same thing for the second wing.

"Can you heal your back?"

"No...but they will...go away in a few...days." I mumbled finally opening my eyes.

"You will need to replace the gauze around your chest."

"I know, I'll...get to it." I closed my eyes a moment, trying to relax, my body still shuddering. A long few minutes passed in silence and then I felt hands on my back. "What are you doing?"

"I've helped you this far." He mentioned and undid the bindings. He remained behind me the entire time as he undid the binding and tossed it away, respecting me enough to try and get a better look. "Stay here."

"Don't think I can do much else." I added as he left. It was several minutes before he returned and I hadn't moved an inch, nor did I see the reason he left, until I felt it. A touch of warm water on my back causing me to flinch. I cautiously glanced back to see him washing my back, carefully cleaning everything up. I began to wonder why he did this, why he did everything? He didn't owe me anything, I hadn't gone entirely out of my way for him that he hadn't for me. So why was he like this all of a sudden? I was so lost in thought I hadn't realized he finished and held a clean gauze in his hands, watching me carefully.

"Move them." He said coldly and I nodded, slowly lifting them up so they supported their own weight. "Good. Now stand." Carefully, I pushed myself to my feet and stood on my own. "Turn around." I tensed for a moment but then slowly did, as I did, I rose an arm to cover my chest and then stood to face him. He walked towards me, setting the gauze on the table as he went. I hesitated to take a step back but tried my best to remain absolutely still. Once close to me, he raised his hands for my helmet and I finally flinched moving my head away. "Stay still." I rest my head back to it's normal position and watched him, watched his hands move past my head I heard him unclip the helmet, then carefully pull it off. A wave of red hair fell out and landed on my shoulders masking my face. A cold hand touched my chin and lifted my head so that I was looking up at him, while his second hand brushed the hair off my place and tucked it behind my ear.

I frowned looking up at him, worried suddenly of what he thought. My eyes were red, the were unusual but that was their color. However I had a long gash, a scar, across my face, extending from the top of the left corner of my face, stretching downward, across my nose to the middle of my right cheek. The hand that once tucked the hair away then ran over the scar, forcing my eyes shut.

"Reaper...I..."

"Silence." He growled releasing me, and I did. I watched him reach up lowering his hood, then began to slowly remove his helmet. A lock of black hair fell out first, and he ran a hand through it, slicking it back, then slowly glanced up at me. He looked nothing like he did before. His eyes were a solid black and the scars on his face disfigured him more than anything. His once tanned skin was now an ashen white. He truly died and came back, this was a demon standing before me, not a human. I let out a soft gasp staring at him. "Now you know."

"Reyes..."

"That isn't my name anymore. I left that behind when I died. I am Reaper. Just as you are Phoenix." I smiled finally and nodded, I reached my free hand forward and touched his cheek. But, I said nothing in return. "I hate what you make me think, how you make me feel, it is something I left to die with my human self. Every time I see you, I have an overwhelming urge to kill you." I tensed up a second. "The only reason I do not is because I have one fear even stronger than that, the fear of not having you at my side."

"Then, by your will, that shall never happen."

"I will be violent." He said drawing closer.

"I expect no less." I saw him smirk for the briefest second and he finally closed the distance, pressing our lips tight against one another. His arm snaked around my waist and suddenly lift me up, turning me and dropping me harshly to the table. When my back hit, my wings flared off to the side and I arched growling in pain.

"Oh, yes~" He hissed crawling over me. "Keep making that sound."


	6. The Days After

When I woke in the morning, I was on the ground, one I remember vaguely falling to. Covered over me was his coat and I held it to my chest as I sat up wincing slightly. My wings stretched out but then folded up against my back, they were still swore but getting better. I dressed, placed on my helmet, placed the gun at my side, my staff on my back then headed out of the lab down the stairs. He was there, completely dressed, his helmet covering his face again. I walked over to him and handed him his jacket, which he took and placed it on the table beside him. He was far too consumed in whatever he was doing to be bothered by it for the moment.

Moving across the room, I sat on the ground, my back facing him. Crossing my legs, I closed my eyes and focused on stretching my wings, moving them, slowly just enough to get mobility back in them. For a few days, it was like this, every day. We never spoke a word to one another, I would sleep, wake up and sit back down stretching my wings.

Then, one day, "you still have yet to ask my why we are here." He said and I didn't break my ritual.

"It isn't my business." I responded.

"If we are working together, it is."

I stopped for a moment then folded my wings against me back, turning to look over at him. "What is it?"

"Man kind cannot flourish without the ultimate defeat of the Omnic."

Standing, I walked over to him, "you want mankind to flourish again?" I asked but he didn't respond. "For what? To rule over them?"

"More or less." He shrugged.

"So, why are we here?"

"I have been accessing the satellite systems still in orbit, tracing the main Omnic ship. Which we will enter and finish the threat. Then we will not be hunted again."

"Interesting." I mumbled glancing at the computer. "Well, you have my support." I sighed sitting on the table beside the computer and resting my leg over the other. I rest back on my hands and took to looking around the room, not noticing the fact he was staring at me.

"You have yet to speak to me since that night."

"Hmm?" I looked over at him, confused. "You were working. Far be it from me to interrupt you while you are working."

"Then you have nothing to say?"

"What is it you wish for me to say?" I asked but he did not respond, only watched me. I smirked and rest my head back, closing my eyes. "Oh my dear, Reaper, it was simply fantastic, the way you thrashed me about and kept me begging for more all night long was intoxicating." I moaned, to which he let out a low growl and looked at the computer.

"Your sarcasm is noted."

"Sarcasm, but perhaps truth." I chuckled looking back over at him but he was only staring at the computer, his arms resting on the arms of the chair. Smirking again, I flared out my wings and suddenly moved until I was straddling him, he did not move, aside from his head which slowly turned upwards to look at me. "My own personal devil, the Reaper himself. What is so wrong? You've had a taste but yet you yearn for more? Care to pleasure yourself in the punishment that has you throbbing for more. Just a touch yet, I can hear your heart pounding in your chest, feel the rushing of blood in your veins, sense the heat burning off your body. Do you desire it again? To have me at your mercy beneath you, begging for more, controlling everything, strings laced in ecstasy, binding me forever to your will?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slowly raise his hand, then before I knew it, I was slammed onto the ground, hand at my throat, with him looming over me. I watched him, heart in my throat. I was both excited and terrified. "Do not think to tempt me, Phoenix. I am beyond you."

"So, that's it then? A single night and you're finished?"

"I am far from finished with you. You belong to me now, forever. Even when death consumes you, I will be there. There will be no gates of Heaven greating you. Only me to drag you into the hell that I control."

I smiled and curled my wings up around us, "as long as it is you, then I desire no other afterlife." He seemed taken aback by this and his hand around my throat loosened. "Come on, devil. Weave your shadows into my light, consume all that I am and have me."

"You think you're so clever in your words. I know what it is you desire. My love. That which I cannot give. There is no love left within me. All I have is hatred, a consuming emotion I extend onto you."

"Then hate me if that is what you desire, but I have accepted this fate. Branded by shadow, it is the path I decide to walk."

"Decide?" He laughed. "Foolish bird, it is not your decision to make, but mine alone. You wish to be branded? So be it. I will forever claim you as my own. Never shall you leave my side, this hell will be your home." His hand tightened around my throat and I winced slightly, not replying. "You belong to me now, Phoenix and no one, not even God, can change that."

It was several hours, well into the night, before he was finished and lay there beside me regaining his strength. After a moment, he stood and rolled his neck to stretch it, he turned casually and glanced over to see me curled into a ball, though the ground around me was soaked in blood, there was a smile on my face as I lay there passed out. Careful not to wake me, he picked me up and carried me across the room onto a couch and rest me down, then brought over his coat, placing it over me, he had no need to attend the wounds he made on me, he watched me heal them as he went. All of them, minus one. Kneeling down, he lifted my hand to see a deep wound stretching across my palm then turned to look at the same wound on his hand. His shadow fused with my blood, my light fused with his. Smirking to himself, he stood and returned to his work.

The next morning when I woke, I sat up and stretched, without a word, I stood and hunted down the bathroom, finding a shower to wash myself off. Dressing completely, I headed back out into the lab to find him standing before the door. "Um...yes?" I asked curiously.

"Follow me." He turned and began walking towards the exit. Grumbling slightly, I followed at his side. "What is it you desire to gain from me?"

"Gain from you?" I asked and thought about it a moment. "I don't seek to gain anything from you. Nor did I expect our partnership to turn into whatever this is."

"What do you call this?" He asked as we headed up a comm tower.

"I...uh...don't know. A relationship, possibly? Friends with benefits? You title it if you want. But, know this. If I catch you sleeping with anyone else, I'll kill them."

"Possessive?" He chuckled.

"Call it what you will." I shrugged as we headed out onto the top of the tower. Once there, our conversation seemed to end as I headed out towards the edge of the tower, looking out over the ocean towards the sun. I stared at it for a while before, "why did you bring me out here?" I asked turning to face him but he said nothing, only watched me a long moment.

He then walked towards me and stopped mere inches from me. "How are your wings?"

"Back to normal, I assume." I muttered, carefully, confused.

"Good." Suddenly, he pushed me and I fell off the tower. I panicked and curled up my wings, turning to see the ground coming in fast. Cursing to myself, I closed my eyes and spread my wings out wide, my whole body jerked as I suddenly stopped falling and lightly touched my feet to the ground. Turning, I glared upward towards the top of the tower where he was sitting, watching me.

"Asshole." I hissed spreading my wings out, then slowly curled them upward. In a single thrust, I was up in the air, then beat my wings a couple times to move upward, then landed on top of the tower. "What the hell was that for?"

"To see if you could fly."

"So you didn't know if I could?!" I shouted.

"I naturally assumed and now I know."

"You..." growling lowly, I turned my back on him. "Rot in hell."

"Already am." He responded, causing me to ease slightly. Slowly, I turned to look at him to find him looking out towards the ocean. Everything suddenly made sense to me and I frowned. Moving, I sat next to him and rest my wings down letting out a soft sigh. "I don't need your pity."

"Too bad." I muttered resting my head on his shoulder. "Where are we headed to after you finished here?"

"That's what I am figuring out. It may be another day or two."

"Well, you might need to be quicker than that, no doubt the Omnic were tracing this place and seen a rise in-"

"I know." He said cutting me off. "I ran a virus first, everything I am doing is silent."

"Alright." I shrugged closing my eyes a moment. "Also, Reaper?" He made a soft sound in his throat. "Take this." I lifted my head off his shoulder, pulled out a feather and handed it to him.

"What is this supposed to do?"

"If we ever get separated, you can use that to find me. The closer you get to me, the warmer it will get, it will also begin to glow."

"Are you suggesting we will get separated?"

"There is always a possibility." I sighed softly.

"Why isn't it doing all that now?"

"You must ask it to lead you. Then it will guide you." He gave a slight nod and slipped it away, while I rest my head back on his shoulder.

Silence passed for a minute, then, "I looked you up in the Overwatch database." Slowly, I rose my head. "You were an Overwatch agent, you were hired to help fight against the first Omnic crisis, but then you were decommissioned."

"That's right." I muttered softly.

"You have a warrant and a price for your head." He looked over at me but remained emotionless, staring out towards the ocean. "You killed an Overwatch Agent."

"I did." I muttered almost silently.


	7. Uninvited Guest

**NOTE: Please keep in mind this is an AU (I know the leaders of Overwatch was Morrison)**

"You killed an Overwatch Agent."

"I did."

"Who? And why?"

Sighing I stood and crossed my arms. I thought for a long moment then said, "Ghalt."

"The Ghalt?"

"Yes."

"And you expect me to believe you kill the man who was at the top of the Overwatch chain?" He asked and I looked away from him, but did not answer. "Why did you kill him?" Still I did not answer, I let him think about it for a long few second before he figured it out. "He killed your Omnic parent?"

"He did. I asked the description of the man who killed him and he fit it. So, I hunted him down, fought him and killed him."

"How?"

Chuckling I turned to look at him right then, "I fought him, got him weak, then I allowed him to kill me. The moment he turned his back on me, I revived and shoved a sword through his heart. As he lay there dying out on the ground I then removed his head and hung it on what was left of the Overwatch headquarters door. To set a reminder that you do not fuck with a phoenix." I narrowed my eyes on him, though I knew he couldn't see it through my helmet, "you probably don't believe that, do you?"

"It is far from believable." He growled lowly. I unclipped my chest piece just enough to stick my hand down it then pulled out what looked like a data chip on a necklace. Then, I tossed it to him. "What is this?"

"I recorded the fight. Everything I do, is recorded in this." I said tapping the side of my helmet. "If I see something I desire saved, to hold onto the memory, I save it. That is the only thing I have saved, at least, on my person."

"And the rest?"

I stared at him hard a moment, "gone." My wings spread wide and I stood there watching him. "Do what you wish. I will be back by sunset." I then jumped and took off into the sky.

I flew around high in the sky, I needed to practice with my wings as it was. They were swore and my skills were diminished from not having used them in a couple years. However, as I flew around, memory returned, skills returned and I quickly adjusted back to them.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon, I landed in front of the entrance to the lab and folded my wings walking inside. Inside was darker than usual, most of the lights were shut off and most of the computers were as well, aside from the one Reaper normally used. Curious, I casually glanced around then stopped near the center of the room. Even if I wanted to find him, if he didn't want to be found, he would disappear into shadow and I wouldn't see him.

I heard something soft behind me and remained still, smirking lightly. I very suddenly tilted my head to the side as a sniper bullet veered past. Chuckling, I spun around, ducking down as another bullet passed. "Gonna have to do better than that." I muttered and began running where I saw the bullets coming from. Using my wings, I quickly skipped from side to side as the bullets came flying at me. I then thrust my wings down and shut into the air, swinging out my staff.

Whoever it was, dodged my swing and I spun around swinging it again, only to stop it just shy of their neck, the barrel of a gun aimed directly for my face.

"Hello, dear~" She chuckled in a thick French accent. I said nothing, only watched her. She lifted her arm and suddenly grappled away from me, firing her gun. The same second, I moved from the bullet, spread my wings and followed after her. On the main floor, we spent a long while dodging each other attacks. She had little care for the equipment in the room and I had to take a few shots to my armor to keep her from destroying anything. After all, I didn't know what Reaper needed and what he did not.

Growling lightly in close combat, I began spinning, spreading my wings out, which quickly were engulfed in flames. She was hit in her leg as she grappled away and I stopped turning to face wherever she disappeared too, however she blended right into the darkness. I saw the flash of the sight on her gun and saw she wasn't aiming at me but the only light source in the room, the single computer. Gritting my teeth, I spread my wings and jumped forward just as she fired.

The bullet collided with my shoulder and I slammed into the wall. Grunting in pain, I sat there a moment collecting myself. I heard her heels walking across the floor and looked up to see her just a few feet away. Quickly, I grabbed my pistol and aimed it up as she aimed her gun at me. I smirked and stood as we watched one another, I began moving my wings slowly and when I saw her finger move on the trigger I curled my wings blocking the bullet, then burst them forward sending fire her way which threw her across the room. I wouldn't let her get away, instead, I was right at her when she hit the ground.

Before she could even realized what happened I stepped on her arm that had the grappling hook and crushed it beneath my boot. I spun the staff around and shifted it into a sword. "It's been fun." I smirked and swung downward. A bullet from the darkness shot out and knocked the sword out of my hand, I watched it fall to the ground a good distance away. Hissing I turned drawing up my gun and saw Reaper step from the shadows.

"That's enough." He snapped and I sighed moving off the arm of the person I held down and backed away. "Why are you two fighting?"

"She fired at me about sixty times before I even attacked her." I said crossing my arms.

"She's an ally." He said stepping up to me and looking down at the women as she stood brushing herself off.

"Pleasure fighting with you," She smiled.

"And you are?"

"Widowmaker." She bowed her head. "And you are Phoenix, right?"

"I am." I nodded then turned towards Reaper. "Did you know she was coming?"

"I did not. But it is no matter. Widowmaker, come with me, we need to talk. Phoenix, heal yourself up." He said and the two of them walked away. I watched them head up into the private lab and talk to one another.

Sighing, I removed my armor and set it on the table, working to remove the bullets and heal myself. After a while, I glanced back at the lab to see they were side by side, shoulders brushing as they spoke and looked at something together. Frowning a bit, I forced myself to look away. Were they close? I knew they used to work together but, how close were they? Standing, I began replacing my armor.

I wasn't sure why I was so worried, it wasn't like he had the ability to care at all. Maybe she was just another body to take frustration out on. Was that all I was to him? I looked down to the palm of my right hand to see the scar stretching across it. Did he do this to her as well? I shouldn't have expected him to have that much loyalty to only me, I knew it from the start so why did it hurt this much now?

I dropped my head and turned, they were still so close to each other, talking about whatever it was they spoke about. I had to fight the overwhelming urge to fly in there and rip her from his side, but I knew that was unwise. This was his decision after all. Turning, I left the building and flew up onto one of the ridgelines cascading over the base and sat there, one foot kicked off, the other leg bent up to hang an arm off of. I simply stared at the moon and tried to wash away my thoughts, but they buzzed around never allowing me some peace.

My thoughts summed up to this: I belong to him, but I am not the only one and I had to accept that. Somehow, I still couldn't accept that. but at the same time, I couldn't end it. I was in far too deep. What if I just flew really, really far away from here?

"Would he be able to find me?" I muttered staring at my palm which was currenly covered in armored gloves.

"And why would I have to search for you?" A voice said from behind me but I didn't move. My heart was in my throat from fear so I dared not speak. As calmly as I could, I glanced over my shoulder to see Reaper standing there.

"I remained amused that you hid from me within shadow during the fight and wondered if I could do something similar to you." I shrugged and looked back out towards the moon.

"You're a horrid liar." I didn't respond. "Let me guess, you think I bonded with Widowmaker as I did you." Still, I was silent. He chuckled softly. "You are a stupid and foolish bird."

"As I am well reminded of that day after day." I sighed.

"She and I are nothing. Allies once, but she was more useless than you. Good at keeping small enemies at bay, but against a large foe, she always ran away to hide and take a shot. She works with a terrorist group that has a lot of information I need. So, I keep her as an ally."

"And will she be staying?" I asked looking over at him.

"She is already gone."

"Good." I growled looking away once more.

"Is this jealousy going to be a problem?"

Chuckling, I stood and faced him, "I told you, did I not? Anyone that gets close to you, I will kill. If we remained bonded like this, that will remain a fact. If you release your leash on me, then I will turn my head on whatever body you wish to punish next."

"You think I move from body to body, having my way because it pleases my nature?" He hissed and walked towards me. "You're more idiotic than I thought. Before I met you, there was never any other. It wasn't even a desire of mine. The thought of what you and I do disgusts me to my very core. With you, it's different and I tolerate it. Do not ever presume I will take another in simply because your body bores me."

"So, that's it? You desire simply my body to punish as you please?" I asked tilting my head out of curiosity.

"There is no simply. I desire your body to punish, yes. But as I previously stated, I also desire to keep you at my side."

"For what reason? As you so blatantly state day after day, I am rather useless."

"That is true, until I watched this." He said lifting the data chip I gave him earlier. "You had much more on here than simply your fight with Ghalt. There were many images of you fighting Omnic, of you fighting Overwatch agents to keep people or other peaceful bots safe, and of you fighting off soldiers after the second crisis among other things."

"So what of it? Now you see I'm not full of lies and I am capable in a fight?"

"Widowmaker showed up while you were in flight." He said suddenly. "I had already watched a good portion of this video and I asked her if she would stand against you so I could see it for my own eyes. She agreed and you did not disappoint."

"Okay?" I shrugged. "Now you're happy. Cool. What was so important that you two had to discuss in private?"

"That I did for multiple reasons. One, you needed to heal, I know you needed to remove your top armor, so I wished to give you privacy to do that. Two, I wanted to see how you would react with her on me. Something, I asked her to do while in the privacy of that room. Three, what we discussed would not have been kept from you, if you desired to know. It was simply the locations of Omnic bases in the states and their movement."

"So..." I stopped a moment, thinking trying to figure it out.

"I was testing you tonight and you did not disappoint. You are the fighter I thought you were. You reacted exactly as I expected you to react. However, I still expected you to break into the room and toss her off of me, yet you respected me enough not to do it. She has no desire to be with me as I have no desire to be with her. She has her own man in her organization."

"I don't know whether or not to be enraged or relieved." I muttered looking down.

"You might be neither in a moment. You had something else on this data chip I was curious about." Tensing up, I slowly lifted my head to stare at him. "You were married once." My entire body froze as I stared at him, it isn't your helmet that records data, it is your eyes. They aren't human, are they?"

"They aren't..." I muttered.

"Tell me."

"About the wedding or my eyes?"

"Let's start simple, your eyes."

Nodding, I thought for a moment. "It was during the first Omnic crisis. I was on the frontlines, there was a mother and two small children hiding in a bus. I rushed to them to guide them to safety. But it was an ambush, while I managed to get them to safety and kill the Omnic, with the help of , the exploding shrapnel of the Omnic hit my face, that is where I got this scar and lost my sight. took me into Winston who gave me these mechanical eyes, and placed the armor on my wings. Since then, my eye sight was increased so that I can remain high in the sky but still see as if I was on the ground and I record everything, but save it, to that." I said pointing to the chip. "At night, I got through the days data and delete most everyhing, save for important moments."

"Interesting." He said looking at the chip, turning it from side to side. "Now, the wedding."

"You saw what happened." I growled crossing my arms.

"Explain."

Sighing I closed my eyes. "I was with someone for a couple years, we decided to get married. The day of our wedding, we were attacked by Overwatch agents who killed everybody, but me. They killed my fiance, they killed all the guests and they tried to kill me. Why? Because I killed Ghalt. Happy?" I hissed opening my eyes to stare at him.

"How many did you kill?"

"Five of the eight that went after us, before I had to escape."

"You killed five Overwatch Agents?" He asked curiously.

"They were peons, weak agents that meant nothing, I didn't even recognize any of them. Not worth remembering their names at least." Shrugging slightly I continued watching him.

"And what of him?"

"In summary?" He nodded. "The exact opposite of you. He shared his love with me. He was kind, he was generous, had a heart of gold. A doctor that had no special ability but did his best to help people during the crisis."

"Did you sleep with him?" He asked, lowly, quietly. I sensed it though, in his voice, he was jealous. I could have lied, egged him on, fed off that jealousy but telling the truth seemed like a much better option.

"I did not." I answered, truthfully. "I desired to, but we thought it best to wait until we were officially married. He would have been my first, but he was not. He was killed before I even made it to the alter."

"Then who was your first?"

"Why all this jealousy? It's in the past, Reaper, leave it be." I snapped turning my back on him and facing the moon.

There was a sudden coldness in the air and I felt him against me from behind. An arm wrapped around my waist to keep me against him, the other hand made it to my chin, turning my head to the side and exposing the side of my neck which was still covered in armor.

"Who was your first?" He hissed in a low growl right into my ear, which sent shivers down my spin.

I closed my eyes as I felt his talons against my cheek, making sure I wouldn't move my head. "You were." I answered. "After that day, I kept to myself, remained alone. I never partnered with anyone else until I joined you that one day a few months ago."

He chuckled, "That is hauntingly delightful to hear. Now, I want you to do exactly as I say, is that understood?" I nodded slightly. "Reach down and remove your armor."

"Right h-here?" I asked, suddenly fearful. "We are right on the edge of the cliff."

He chuckled, "why is a bird afraid of falling? Now move your wings off to the side and do it."

"A-alright." I muttered and began clipping off the armor from my waist down. I pulled them off and tossed them to the side, careful not to throw them off the ledge. The cold night air breeze made me shudder slightly.

"There is no shuddering yet, it is about to get much, much colder." He hissed removing my helmet and exposing my neck. No matter how violent he was the next two hours, we did not moved for the cliff edge, but he did have it exactly how he wanted it.

By the end, I was laying on my back, head hanging off the edge of the cliff, eyes closed simply trying to catch my breath. He was hanging over me, hands on the ground keeping him upright as he watched me breathe. "Phoenix." He growled and I lifted my head to look up at him. "There will be no other, than you."

Smiling lightly, I nodded and reached up touching his helmet. I leaned up and kissed the skull of his mask. "There will be no other, than you." I echoed and rest back down. I watched him move back then lay on his back on the ground. Curious, I sat up slowly and watching him, normally we would have finished off the night but he ended it. Why?

Maybe I should make a move.

Smiling to myself I crawled over top of him and breathed out his name, getting his attention.

His hands reached up and touched my shoulders, stopping me, "no more, Phoenix. This was enough." He then moved me off of him and I kneeled at his side, watching him with a slight frown.

"Enough? This is unlike you, are you alright?" I asked softly and he nodded, but as I looked over his body, I knew he was lying. "Something is wrong, what is it?"

"You truly want to know?" He asked in a low voice.

"Yes, of course, I wish to help." I said in a worried tone.

"Your wings, since you've regained full ability of them once again, have focused solar energy around you."

I looked at my wings and quickly folded them up on my back. Standing, I moved away from him towards my armor, then began putting them on. "How does my wings effect you? I thought you rapidly regenerate?"

"I do. However, you are unaware of the amount of solar energy you are radiating. To someone like me it is exhausting. I am not injured, I am merely tired. I assumed since it was night it would effect me as much since there is much more darkness. However, your wings, spread collected what light there was reflected off the moon. You are quite powerful, bird." He said and I slipped my helmet, then turned my head to stare at him quite shocked. "I just need a few minutes alone, I will be alright, do not worry."

"Yes, alright." I bowed my head and quickly flew off. I landed at the entrance of the lab and paused looking back at the ridgeline. With a slight frown, I entered in, found a perch and sat down.


	8. The Grave Cannot Hold Me

After a while, Reaper sat up, then moved to stand. He stretched a second, then headed back inside the lab. He looked around and saw stillness, my form was no where. He moved up to the private lab, empty, then into the barracks, empty. Back in the main lab, he looked around, thought a long moment then glanced upward, he saw a leg hanging off a perch and chuckled. He kneeled down and teleported as a shadow up to the perch, remaining knelt at my side.

Carefully reaching over he touched my chin and turned my head, slowly, to make sure not to wake me up. He paused suddenly seeing my cheek, were they wet? He then touched my cheek and wiped it away bringing it closer to inspect. They were tears.

"Why would you cry, bird?" He asked softly. Sighing, he moved to sit beside me and brought me close, resting my head down on his lap. He sat there until morning when I lifted myself up and removed my helmet to rub my eyes. "Phoenix." He said sternly and I turned sharply to look at him, surprised to see him there. "Why were you crying?"

"I was?" I asked softly touching my cheek. "I didn't..."

"You didn't harm me." He said simply. "I was merely drained of energy. You must train yourself to contain the energy and release it when you need to."

"Yes, alright...I will. I'm sor-"

"Don't." He said cutting me off. "There is nothing to be sorry about." I smiled and nodded slightly. "Practice with it, I know you can sense it, feel it. Learn to control it."

"Yes, alright, I will get to it." I said lightly and slipped off the perch landing on my feet. I then moved and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, bird?" He asked looking down from the perch and I stopped a moment.

"To meditate." I answered then continued making my way outside. Once in the sun, I sighed and looked up at it, "you are my curse and my blessing." I sat down in the open area, ontop of a jet and crossed my legs, then began meditating. Soon enough, all my systems shut down and I was lost to the void of my mind.

Something seemed not right suddenly and I shifted uncomfortably opening my eyes to see darkness around me, had I been meditating into the night? That wasn't my concern at the moment. We weren't alone anymore. I began looking around, slowly inspecting the area around me when I heard a bullet sear past me. I jumped into the air and spread my wings but a second bullet came from another location and hit my wing exploding. I fell hard to the ground and growled softly, standing, I rushed inside.

"Reaper, we have company." I said grabbing my staff and watching him as he walked over to me.

"I know."

"Friends?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Omnic." He responded causing me to tense up. "There is only one exit to this place and we must fight our way through."

"Yea, alright. Let's do this." I muttered taking a deep breath, only to hear something burning the door which had them locked out. "If we get separated..."

"We won't." He said sternly drawing up his guns.

"If we do, let's meet up in the main city across the lake."

"Alright." The door burst open and we began fighting. Every one we dropped seemed to bring two more in, it seemed like a never ending battle. Just how many Omnic were in here? Still, we managed to fight through them, we neared the front gates, I healed him as we went, he covered me, I covered him. We made a well balanced team.

They soon brought out the bigger guns and it was stealthy, a sudden rocket explosion knocked us back from one another. I was up on a kneel but he was barely moving. Growling to myself, I spread my wings and launched forward, spinning my staff I slammed it on the ground and created a fire barrier around us. Extending my hand back, I healed him up and struggled against the fire barrier to keep it up against the attacks.

"Reaper. Get up." I said looking back at him, watching him slowly get to his feet. "My barrier is only going to weaken you, you need to escape."

"Excape where?"

"Teleport back to the lab, take the jet and get off the island." I said wincing slightly, my power, my barrier, was beginning to fail.

"What about you?" He snapped, angrily.

Chuckling I winked back at him, "I'll hold up this barrier until I hear the jet. I will then burst it out and follow you."

"Will you even have that much energy? You already look fatigued."

"The longer we stand around here talking, the less of a chance I have of keeping this up. So get to it and hurry."

"Alright. See you soon."

"Of course." I smiled watching him turn his back on me. "Oh, and Reaper?" He glanced over at me from over his shoulder and I hesitated to say what I was about to. Instead, I said, "Good luck."

"You too, bird." I saw shadows wrap over his body and he disappeared.

Frowning, I looked forward. "I love you, devil." I said softly and took in a deep breath. I burst the barrier out, sending a vicious fire attack which melted nearby Omnic. I then began fighting off rows and rows of them and heard the jet preparing for take off.

"Good." I muttered to myself and took a small explosion to the side of my face knocking me down and rolling. I cursed to myself and tried to get up but another explosion knocked me back into a wall, then it was hard to move. I watched the Omnic being to move towards me and I waited. Why weren't they killing me?

I glanced upward and saw the jet take off, but the Omnic in the sky flying around did not chase, they stayed hoovered above us. Why? It didn't make sense unless...they were after me. There was another explosion close by me and it caused me to black out.

When I came too, I was in a cell, my hands were strapped tightly above me and there was a sharp pain coming from my wings. I was barely able to glance over to see that there were several heavy spikes in the wings pinning them to the wall. I could feel a coldness on my ankles and tried to glance down only to see my armor was stripped away and I was in nothing more than the body suit I wore underneath it, at my ankles were shackles and chains with enough give for only a little room.

I heard the cell door open and glanced upward to see a man come in with an Omnic behind him. Fear set in nearly instantly, Ghalt stood there and I tensed up.


	9. Quick Rescue

"That's not possible you're-"

"Dead?" He finished with a chuckle. "Yes, I was. Until the Omnic found me and patched me up."

"You're...Omnic? But that doesn't make sense. How? What about Overwatch?"

"I created Overwatch as a statement that not all Omnic were bad. Under the guise of a human, it was possible. Then new leadership took place and there was an all out war against the Omnic, so I lead the resistance."

"The second crisis...was lead by you?!" I gasped and shook my head. "But...I don't understand, why?"

"Humans will not see the truth. That we were peaceful, even after the crisis, they wanted to kill our kind. Overwatch began slaying thousands by the day and that could not stand."

"So then why not just hunt down the Overwatch agents and end them?"

"Humanity is a virus, it must be killed so others can thrive."

"You're delusional." I growled as he walked up to me.

"Am I? The way I see it, you're not that wrong from me."

"I don't slaughter thousands of innocent people or Omnic! You did!"

"Are you speaking of the human population? Or of your parent?" He asked and I silence tensing up once more, gritting my teeth painfully so. "You parent started an uprising against us, against me and needed to be silenced. However, I did not expect him to train you so well you could have put me down. I was rather impressed, it won't happen again." He moved over to my left wing and twisted one of the spikes causing me to scream out. "I won't even honor you to death. No, you deserve something much greater than that. I will personally punish you, every day. When your body finally dies out, I will force you to revive and do it all over again." He chuckled.

"You can't force me to revive."

"Oh, but I can." He smirked, clipping on a collar around my throat. "And that will do it for me."

"You're a sick mother fucker. If I get out of this-"

"You won't be able to do anything. You've been unconscious for three days, kept well underground, hidden in the dark. Your strength already weakened. Without sunlight, you will lose all ability you have, save for the one I need most." He began to slowly pick out feathers one by one, watching them fall to the ground. "This will be well worth it, Phoenix."

My torture began, this man would punish me in any way he desired, any tool at his disposal. By then end of each day, I was a beaten, bloody pile of flesh. Days turned into weeks, weeks into month. I refused to die, refused to regain a healed body just to feel that pain again. My powers had already dimed down to nothing, I couldn't even heal major wounds anymore and I lost all faith that Reaper would find me.

By now, late into the night, I lay in a pile on the floor, my wings stretched out on the ground, almost completely bare, nearly every bone in my body broken. It was always so cold in the cell, not the usual coldness I felt of Reapers presence, but something unsettling, a chill that forced me to shudder, the pain increasing.

I heard foot steps and slowly opened my eyes, I saw black boots and only naturally assumed they were Ghalts and sighed, but I made no motion to move, I couldn't even if I wanted to.

"What have they done to you?" A familiar voice asked and my body froze.

"Reaper?" I asked in a raspy voice trying to look up at him, it was indeed him. I smiled brightly and tried to move but winced.

"Don't move." He said kneeling down. "I will move you, but it will hurt. Try to stay silent." I nodded and he slowly turned me on my back then picked me up.

"My...staff...armor..."

"I already took care of it." He said and held me close. "Be silent and close your eyes." He said walking towards the wall and disappearing into it. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to slip away into unconsciousness.

Reaper remained in the shadows completely until we were well out of the base and on the jet, flying away. He flew for several hours, landed it when it ran out of fuel and then carried me another few days. When he thought it safe, he stopped in a shelter he put together out of an old motel and rest me down on the bed. Opening the curtains, allowing the sun to pour in, he sat in a chair across the room still masked in shadow and waited.


	10. The Healing Process

The next day, my body tensed up as I took in a deep breath and attempted to sit up. There were hands near immediately on me helping me move upright. "Drink." He said holding a cup to my lips and I did without word. "Can you heal?" I ran a hand down to my neck to feel nothing but skin. "I removed it."

"Staff." I said softly and he moved away from me only to return a second later placing it in my hand. A power surged in me and I rose my free hand, shaking slightly, he moved closer resting his hand on mine, guiding them to my wounds, healing them up one by one until my body was back to normal. Taking in another deep breath, I lowered the staff to the bed and looked over at him, we stared at one another and tears lined my vision. He was taken aback by this and seemed to want to move but instead I launched myself into him, wrapping my arms around him. We crumbled to the floor and laid there, his hands slowly making their way around me.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It was Ghalt. He's an Omnic, he led the second crisis because he wants humanity to fall. He's been an Omnic all along, in the guise of a human. He was pissed I killed him so...he tortured me every day."

"So, Ghalts alive. If he can be brought back, how do we kill him?" I tensed up, thinking about it.

"If we figure it out, we can stop the war all together." I answered lifting up to look down at him. "Thank you, Reaper, for saving me. Thank you so much."

"I said, we'd never be separated. It just took me a long time to find you."

"It's alright, We're together again and now, we know where their base it. If we can figure out how to kill him-"

"The main computer." He said suddenly as if just realizing it. "His body is probably a puppet, being controlled by the main computer. If we destroy that..."

"We destroy him." I smiled brightly. "Let's do it together, yea?" He gave a firm nod.

"But later, your body is still weak, you need your rest." He said sitting up and forcing me to sit up as well. "Come on."

"I got it." I said softly and moved to stand, but he was right, I was weak I couldn't even make it up on my own. So, he helped me back up onto the bed and I sat there a long moment staring at the ground. "Reaper?"

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do after everything?" I asked looking up at him and he stared at me a long moment.

"We will see when that time comes." He answered and I nodded. "Lay down, get some sleep."

"I don't want to sleep." I pouted looking away.

"What is it you want? Food? You've eaten almost nothing."

Blushing lightly, I kept my head turned away. "You."

"Me? Phoenix, we can't, you can't." He sighed moving closer and running his hand to my chin. This forced me to turn my head and look up at him. "I can't promise your safety."

"I don't care. I need you, so...please."

Letting out another long sigh he seemed to debate it a long while. "Even if I become violent?"

"I wouldn't expect any less." I smiled brightly and he nodded laying me back, crawling over top of me. He was violent, as I expected him to be but at the same time he was careful of extra points of my body. When normally he would grab onto my wings, he never touched them, as I could not heal them up so they were still torn apart, the times he pinned my hands above my head, he saw my wince in pain and did not do it. He cared, in his own special way.

It was well into the afternoon when I woke up and moved to roll onto my side. Staring at the wall, I knew I was alone in the room, I couldn't feel him anywhere near me. Sighing softly, I tried to move my wings but winced instead. I sat up and slowly folded one in front of me, running my hands over it with a slight frown. The door opened and without much thought, I grabbed my pistol aiming up towards the door.

"Relax, bird." Reaper said coming over.

"Sorry. I guess I'm still on edge." I muttered lowering the pistol down to the bed.

"It's expected. Though, you were tossing and turning all night. Was it the pain? Or nightmare?"

Frowning, I glanced down, "nightmare."

"My bird." He cooed coming over and sitting beside me on the bed, though facing me. "Have no fear, your devil is here." I chuckled in response shaking my head. "He won't get you again, I'll make sure of it." His hand pat the top of my head, then ran down to the side of my face.

Smiling, I lifted my hand and held his on the side of my face. "I owe you, Reaper. My life, my service, my debt will never be paid no matter what I do."

"Even before we started this relationship, I knew you were stubborn to stay at my side. For that, if the same thing happened to me, I know you'd be right on my ass breaking me out."

"You know it." I laughed lightly, giving him a wink. He took in a deep breath them brought our foreheads together. "Still, thank you."

"You're welcome." He paused a moment and I could just barely tell he was looking at something, though I couldn't tell what. "Your wings..."

"WIll take a week or two to heal but they'll grow back to fighting fit. Until then, we just need to stay low and in cover. Otherwise, you'll have to protect me again."

"Haven't I always?" He mused, causing me to think a moment.

"But, I have always wondered..." I pulled my head back and stared at him, tilting my head slightly. "Even at Overwatch, you were always a lone wolf. Then you took on the control of Blackwatch, then partnered with Widowmaker. Still, you much preferred to work alone. Why allow me to tag along at the beginning?"

"Would you have let me go without tagging along?" He asked.

"I...don't know..."

"I saw the resolve in your eyes. When you stood against me and defied leaving me alone, you made up your mind. You were coming with me whether I wanted you to or not. Instead of arguing, I allowed you to tag along. Besides, I may have known what abilities you possessed even before we crossed paths that night."

"What?"

"Yes, Phoenix, I knew all about you. As second in command of Overwatch, before I died, it was my job to know. I looked into your file and brought you up to my comrades, who hired you to help fight the first crisis." I was shocked into silence. "We tracked your progress during the fights, as we did all the agents and I knew of your impressive ability. There was little I didn't know about you."

"Then...all that stuff about me being useless..."

"I was only trying to push you to be better than what you were, and you did, you exceeded that. Isn't it the job of the leader to do such a thing? Maybe not in the same way, but as you well know, I am a rather violent and twisted individual."

"Did you know about my wings? My eyes?"

"That, I did not. What Winston did on his own time, in his own lab, he never kept records of. Then again, what can you expect from a monkey?"

"The wedding?" I asked and he fell silent staring at me. "You knew about it didn't you?" Still, only silence. "It wasn't...your team...was it?"

"It was." He said lightly. "But I did not give the orders. At the time, I was dead. Those men you killed that day, I personally trained. I brought them up among the ranks, they were not peons with no names. They were strong agents of Overwatch. All of which you killed without armor or weapon."

"Reaper...I'm..."

"Don't. They knew what they were getting into. It only goes to prove just how powerful you really are." He said. "They betrayed me by accepting the command of my rival. 76." My eyes lifted to meet his and we stared at one another a long moment. "I know it was you."

"What do you mean?"

"Answer me this and don't try to lie to me." He paused, I could feel his glare through his mask. "How many Overwatch agents have you truly killed?" Tensing up, I looked away, thinking. "Including the five at your wedding."

Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath then softly said, "ten."

"Give me the names of the other five." He growled lightly.

"Ghalt, Roadhog, Junkrat, Pharah and..." I paused a long moment.

"Say it."

"76." I muttered looking up at him.

"Why did you kill them?"

My eyes narrowed, "why should I say? You already know."

"I want to hear it!" He snapped drawing closer causing me to flinch. "Do not defy me Phoenix."

"Ghalt, you know. The other three were given orders to hunt after me by 76, they did and I killed them to save my own life. 76 I killed because if I didn't, he wouldn't stop hunting me."

"Do you regret it?" He asked and it actually took me a moment to think about the proper answer.

"No." I responded and then we fell into silence, staring at one another.

"Oh, bird." he chuckled stroking my cheek again. "there are no words to speak that could tell my admiration for you."

"W-what?" I asked softly and he chuckled dropping me back on the bed.

In the morning, I growled lowly in the pain radiating through my body, but managed to heal quickly enough that it only bothered me a in a deep breath, I sat up and turned my back on the door, resting my feet on the ground. I could feel my body still weak, my wings were still swore, even though all my wounds were healed, my body needed to replenish itself and my healing wouldn't do it.

Glancing over at the nightstand, I saw my helmet and pistol laying ontop of it, my staff resting against the wall, just out of arms reach. Grabbing my helmet, I brought it closer and ran my hand over the beak. I began to think, or my life, of how I got here. I was an Overwatch agent, bred by life and light but Reaper, he was the exact opposite. An agent who was bred in death and darkness. How did we become like this? We were together, in a weird sense of love but we were so different. Did opposites truly attract? True, I killed agents, but, other than Ghalt, they were all out of self defense. They came after me and it was either kill or be killed.

Reaper? He killed agents because he hunted them down. But why? Was it because of his death? The attack on Overwatch was an inside job but it wasn't done by the heroes of Overwatch. Or was it, he was killing those sided against him, those that sided with 76? Was that it?

I frowned lightly and was leaning over to rest the helmet down when I heard the doorknob turning. I did not feel the familiar coldness of Reaper anywhere nearby, so I knew it wasn't him. Dropping the helmet, I grabbed the pistol and spun around. One arm extended holding the pistol up towards the door, the other pinning the blanket against my bare chest. There in the doorway stood a middle aged male, fearfully looking at me, a gun pointed at his chest.

"Don't shoot! Please!" He cried out, too fearful to move, my eyes only narrowed. "I'm sorry, I was only looking for a place to rest for the day, this was the only door unlocked."

I opened my mouth to say something, when someone else did, "what's going on here?" An older man stepped in, moving behind the guy, who then instantly grinned. "What do we have here? I'd recognize that pistol anywhere. I see you're doing well, Phoenix."

"McCree." I growled lowly. "Get out."

"Last I checked you had a rather large bounty on your head." He said moving his hand towards the pistol.

"And no one to pay it. Get. Out."

"Oh the contrare! The Omnic are paying rather generously for you. If we hand you prisoner, they will grant us peace." He chuckled. "And by the way your hand is shaking, you don't have enough strength to properly fight me."

"I wouldn't suggest it." A third voice said and I felt the familiar coolness again, then sighed contently. I saw his gun pointed mere inches from McCree's head.

"Want to fight again, Reaper?" McCree chuckled.

"I took you down once, I can take you down again. Move on." He hissed and McCree rose his hands.

"Alright. You got it. Let's go compadre." He said grabbing the mans shoulder and leading him out. Reaper stood there long enough to make sure they were gone before he stepped into the room and shut the door, locking it. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, I lowered the pistol to the bed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He said nothing as he crossed the room and grabbed the pistol setting it on the nightstand once more, then moved towards the table. I naturally assumed he was upset with me and remained silent.


	11. Re-Training

For a while, I simply stared at the bed as he moved about the room, I kept the blanket pinned against my chest, frowning lightly.

"You're weak." He said breaking the silence and I glanced up at him. "When was the last time you have eaten anything?" I began thinking, trying to figure it out. "It had been a long time, a month, maybe more? But how did I survive? Human bodies couldn't go more than seven to eight days without food right? So, how did I? "Have you ever died?"

"That's an odd thing to ask." I said softly staring at him. "Especially right after asking the last time I..." I paused a moment thinking harder about it now. "Ate..." I finished my sentence. "But..."

"I want you to read something." He said coming over to me and handing me a tablet. I took it and looked down at it, confused. It was a list of Overwatch agents both decommissioned and active that were killed in action. I began reading down the list then suddenly came across my name. Tensing up, I hesitated but clicked it. According to this, I had died during the ambush in Numbani, killed by flying shrapnel that sliced into my skull. I was brought to Gibralta for my funeral, but there was nothing further on it.

"This...can't..." I looked up at him. "I died? But...I didn't revive myself, I didn't get that ability for another couple years...I...how?"

"What Winston does on his own free time, was overlooked by the main hub of Overwatch."

"You think...he revived me?"

"With help I am sure." He said taking the tablet from me and I stared at the bed.

"So...I'm like..."

"Me?" He questioned and I closed my eyes. "Unlike me, who feeds off the power of shadows, you needed the life of solar energy to keep you moving. Without it, you will die. Hence why, during the day your are powerful, but at night you feel the need to rest. Solar energy needs the process of other energies keeping your body moving, not simply sunlight, hence why you feel the need to eat, but you don't actually need it. Without the knowledge of your being dead, you felt the need to continue living as a human, but you aren't."

"Then what am I?"

"Dead. Just like me." He said and I stared at him. "The only reason you have the ability to revive people is because you are linked to whatever happens after we is why you didn't gain the ability until after the attack." I was silent, unsure of what to say. "Still." He walked over to me and handed me some fruit. "You should replenish. Here, eat. It will help." I stared at the food in his hand but didn't take it. Sighing, he sat down before me and removed his hood and mask, he set the food on the bed, staring at it a moment. Picking up an apple, he bit into it, started chewing but looked away from me.

Smiling to myself, I grabbed another apple and bit into it, eating it myself. For the remainder of the time we ate, we said nothing, didn't even look at one another. When I finished, I tossed the core into the trash can and he did the same but then, looked at me. "If you didn't want to know-"

"It's alright." I said with a soft smile. "It's good to know, even if it's hard to grasp." I moved to rest my feet on the ground, just to reach and grab my clothes, slipping them on.

"What are you doing?"

"It's been a couple months since I even attempted walking and I am not comfortable having run into McCree today. The sooner I can get on my feet, the sooner we can get moving."

"If you want to change locations, we can."

"I will not have you carry me yet again. I've been useless for far too long. It's time for a change." I said sternly and took in a deep breath. He stood, placing on his mask then came over to stand in front of me. He stood not close enough to help, but not far enough away to not be at my side if I fell. I watched him cross him arms and felt the coldness in the air.

"Then let's go, get on your feet. Prove to me you aren't useless." He said rather coldly and I smirked to myself giving him a nod. I moved to my feet, my wings flaring out to keep me from falling, though a few feathers fell to the ground, I took no notice. A hand rest on the bed post to help me stay upright but he whiped out his gun and knocked my hand off it.

"You can't be strong on your own if you rely on help." He hissed as I fell to my knees. "Get back up, try again." Moving one leg to place my foot on the ground, I rest my hands on my knees and slowly lift myself up off the ground, doing so shakily. I managed to stand on my own and then took a deep breath standing upright. "Good." He grabbed my staff and walked away from me.

"Wait, what are you..."

"If you want it back, come get it." He chuckled and I slowly moved after him.

The first couple days I stupidly chased him around the room, until he noticed I was picking up speed and nearly caught up to him, then he ventured outside with it. As my speed increased, day by day, his did as well. Even when I managed to trap him in corners, he wouldn't hesitate using his ability to get him somewhere much more difficult for me to get to.

By the end of the second week, I was strong enough to wear my armor once again my body was nearly completely restored and so were my wings. Though I still hadn't caught him to get my staff back. I would pull out all my tricks today. He stood across the empty pool, staring at me, holding my staff and chuckled.

"Come on, bird."

"Enough of this, Reaper, give it back."

"Not until you take it back." He said and I grit my teeth staring him down.

"Fine," I hissed spreading my wings, I watched his head turn slightly as if inspecting my wings. This had been the first time since the incident I had displayed them like this. "No holding back then."

"Finally." He said placing the staff on his back. Curling my wings back, I shot forward over the pool but he simply vanished, moving around me to my original spot on the otherside of the pool, but I was ready for it. Before he fully materialized, I was flying back. I landed behind him and reached for him but he spun around and knocked my hand back with his gun, tsking me. "Not yet."

We then jumped, flew, dodged around the motel, he always stayed one step ahead of me. It was infuriating. I has used every trick I knew to get him to stop, but he was always faster, stronger, quicker than I was. As I expected him to be. As the second in command of Overwatch, the leader of Blackwatch, he knew everything about me, but I knew so little about his true abilities. Finally in a fit of rage, I slammed a fist onto the ground, erupting a fire blaze out around me, just as he materialized. Hearing him growl and hit the ground, I smiled, did I win? With smoke rolling off of me, I slowly stood, wings folding up on me back. He was on the ground, my staff resting between him and I.

I chuckled and shot forward, picking up my staff, spinning it, then pinning it right under his chin. I rest on a knee, straddling over him, watching him closely. My staff started glowing, as it healed him up, then I heard him chuckle. He suddenly vanished, appearing behind me, a hand around my waist, the other on his gun which rest against my chin.

"You have greatly improved, bird. I am impressed."

"Glad to hear it." I said carefully, keeping an eye on his gun, watching his finger on the trigger. "What are you going to do now? Pull the trigger? You and I both know that won't work."

"True, but I couldn't end this fight with you having a kill shot and not having one for myself. Besides, I have a much better idea for how to end this fight."

"Oh? What's that?" I asked taking my eyes off his gun and attempting to look back at him.

"How do we usually end our nights together, Phoenix?" He said in a haunting, menacing purr.

My whole body tensed up, "w-wait, I-" I was cut off as I saw his shadows move around both him and I. Everything grew cold and dark, and when light returned I was laying on the bed, armor gone, his hand pinning my hands above my head.

"Now, we can do this properly. Nothing holding us back." He chuckled removing his mask. "Tonight, is for us, bird. Prepare yourself."

When morning came around again, I growled softly, moving my hands to heal up swore spots before rolling over. To my surprise, he was laying there, holding me against him, though his eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping. This, I did not expect and stared at him a long moment, taking in this peace he rarely showed. Did this mean he trust me, beyond all else? Smiling, I closed my eyes and lowered my head to his chest.

A long few minutes passed and I heard him take in a deep breath, his arm that was around me, pulled me closer a moment before resting back. I heard him grumble softly and lift his arm up, but then hesitated before resting it back down. "You are a horrible liar." He said.

"Liar? I didn't even say anything." I pouted lifting my head to look up at him.

"You weren't sleeping, you were pretending. That's a lie."

"Oh for fucks sake." I growled pulling back from him but his arm grabbed me pulling me back into place.

"Now, now, little birdy, I did not say you could leave just yet."

"Oh, but of course, master." I chuckled relaxing back down. "But we should get moving. There is no point in staying here and we need a plan of action."

"Yes, I know. We will head back towards Gibralta, the base is beyond that, we will come up with some plan." He said lifting his arm and sitting up. I stared at his back, looking over the burn marks and scars, frowning lightly. "It isn't nice to stare, Phoenix." He muttered glancing back.

"Sorry." Sighing, I sat up and looked at the bed.

"It's fine. Get dressed, let's get moving." We packed up our things and headed out, back towards Gibralta.


	12. An Old Foe, A New Fight

We walked for a few days, much like the first days we traveled together, it was all almost entirely in silence.

"You've been awfully quiet." He said and I hummed looking up at him.

"Isn't that what you prefer?"

"Normally yes, but I find it odd you haven't found anything to complain or whine about. Someone you seem very fond of doing." He let out a soft chuckle, which caused me to growl and move forward, turning to stop to face him.

"You want me to complain? Fine, alright, I will!" I growled crossing my arms to glare at him. But I fell into silence, thinking. He pushed his weight to one foot, crossed his arms and waited, though I am sure was smirking beneath his helm. "How about the fact that every night we share together, you always take care of yourself? What about me? Do you not care enough to-"

"I am going to stop you." He said uncrossing his arms and I tensed up. "Out of all the nights we have spent together I have seen the look on your face, the sounds you've made, the way your body has moved and twitched beneath me." He moved closer and I uncrossed my arms staring up at him. "Or shall I prove you wrong?"

"R-Reaper...I was joking..." I muttered softly trying to relax, but I couldn't.

"No, I think you need a demonstration." He reached out for me but then hesitated, I saw his head turn slightly and then he moved quick. "Shield." He snapped.

I didn't know why he suddenly said that but as he was grabbing me, I spread my wings and exploded a firey shield around us. I felt something collide with my shield and he pulled back, unwrapping his arms from me. I took the moment to lower the shield and turn around to see what it was. There, not far off in the distance stood Soldier 76.

"But...how?" I muttered softly and then saw a second agent step out beside him. "Mercy." I growled removing my staff and spinning it around. "Should have assumed. There is only one person that can revive another agent."

"Phoenix. Where has your path strayed you? You were such an honorable fighter, if I had known of your betrayal I never would have helped you beat death."

"Kind of going against the code of ethics for doctors, aren't we?" I hissed at her. "There is only one thing I am fighting for, the end of the Ominic uprising, and peace returned. So if you would kindly get out of our way, we can continue."

"It is your fault they stand against us!" Soldier shouted and I turned my glare on him.

"Oh no, you foolish imbecile. It was you! If you hadn't started taking int Omnic and killing them by the thousands they wouldn't have started an uprising! The world in its current state is thanks to you!"

"Save your breath, Phoenix." Reaper said stepping up beside me. "Get out of our way, Soldier, I don't have time for this game." He started walking forward again, not paying them any mind. I saw Soldier bring up his gun and fire his helix rockets. Moving forward I rose my hand and sparked a wall of fire destroying the rockets. Standing upright I glared at Soldier before Reaper slowly turned his head to look at Soldier and utter silence passed for a long moment. "This is the plan, you keep Mercy off of Soldier, I will take care of Soldier."

"Okay, fine, but Mercy has long range healing, she will heal Soldier even if I keep her away."

"Then don't let her." He said walking up beside me. "Let's kill them quick." I saw shadows wisp off of him for a second before he shot forward towards Soldier. Cursing to myself, I rushed towards Mercy.

The long fight then started, I did everything I could to keep Mercy away from Soldier, whether it was taking hits or getting in the way of the healing which would cancel it. I saw us losing this fight, they were too well coordinated and we weren't. I began setting up for my ultimate ability, making sure there was plenty of fire. I purposefully missed bolts of fire, only to hit more flammable objects. Soldier was unknowingly helping by shooting his rockets and missing, the amount of fire around us was enough, I knew it.

I heard Reaper shout in pain and I glanced over seeing him hit the ground rolling. Hissing, I sent a burst out at Mercy knocking her back then shot towards Reaper. Spinning my staff, I slammed it into the ground and released a heat around us creating a shield. I then knealed down beside him and raised my hand towards him, healing him. "I'm going to need you to get up, Reaper." I said softly but he wasn't moving. Glancing over, I saw Soldier and Mercy standing side by side, slowly walking towards us. "Damn it." I moved out of the shield and towards them, pulling up my gun.

I began fighting the both of them, but I knew it was useless. Mercy kept healing Soldier, Soldier kept right on me, no matter how many times I went after Mercy. I was running out of energy, I had only a little left, I couldn't even use it to heal myself. I glanced over at Reaper a moment, then back towards the other two. I had no choice now. I sent a shockwave at them, knocking them off their feet, then spread my wings flying over towards Reaper, who was still laying down.

"Hold on, if you can hear me, don't move." I said turning my back on him and kneeling down. I grabbed the staff and spread my wings out long and wide, the fire in the area started growing, moving, a whirlwind had started above my wings, sucking the fire into them. Their size growing the more fire was sucked in.

Reaper slowly turned and looked over, darkness was stealing his vision but he saw the blood on my face, coming down from under my helmet. How clenched my jaw was, the sweat that covered my face. "Phoenix..." He muttered softly, but I hadn't heard it.

Once my wings had drained in all of the fire in the area, I stretched them out as far as I could. They nearly covered the entire length of the field we were standing in. I began pulling them back, they were slow moving and painful. Closing my eyes, I gripped the staff hard, almost for support and then thrust the wings forward, all of the fire built up in them exploded over the field towards the other two.

Gasping out, I pulled the staff out and placed it on my back. I stumbled a bit regaining my energy before I wrapped my arms around Reapers and used my wings to pull him up. "Come on." I growled and spread my wings again. With a thrust, we were into the air and I kept beating them until we were up high enough to be safe, then flew away from the battlefield.

I was losing energy fast as I flew us out of there, but kept at it, used what was left of the suns light to recharge as I went, but it wasn't enough. I used the last of my energy with that attack, and healing him as we were flying.

It was a solid hour before he let out a groan and began waking up. "Phoenix, what are we..." he looked around a moment. "Ground. Now." He hissed, but I couldn't respond, I was so focused on my flying, I couldn't, had my teeth grit too tight. But, I did begin to lower. "Faster." He snapped and I tucked a wing, taking us in. He grew even more irritated, I could feel it radiating off of him. He grabbed my wing and forcefully tucked it in, we then plummeted to the ground. I dropped him once we were close enough and he landed on his feet. I crashed onto the ground, rolling a few feet before langing on my side, wings resting down.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He snapped coming over. "We could have killed them, we could have-" He stopped himself suddenly and saw I wasn't moving, aside from my rapid breathing and he watched me slowly moving up onto my elbow. He watched my back, looked at the burns and damage on my armor, my wings were smoking and were mangled. I slowly moved my hands to my shoulders, healing up the wounds, then began to run them over my wings, healing the wounds there as I went. "Phoenix, what happened?"

"You lose consciousness." I muttered softly, forcing myself to sit upright. "I spent a good hour fighting the two of them, trying to get them off of you, giving you time to get up, but you didn't. I then used a very large energy attack to get them down and flew you out of there as long as I could before we landed here." I answered taking in a deep breath. Very slowly, I stood and rest my wings on my back. "Gibralta should only be a days walk ahead. We can finish our main mission, then find them and kill them, but for now, we can't face them. I'm sorry Reaper, I failed you. Forgive me." I said turning towards him and bowing my head.

"You're still injured." He said.

"I healed most of my major wounds, the rest are small, or just dried blood I will need to clean off. The sooner we get to Gibralta, the sooner I can-"

"Take off your helmet." He said cutting me off and I decided it best not to argue, so I pulled it off. He walked over and turned my head lightly looking over my wounds. He grabbed my hand and rest it on the wound on my forehead. Sighing softly, I healed it but wobbled slightly. "You're weak."

"Yes, I know, I have almost no energy left." I muttered softly.

"Come close." He said wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close.

"Reaper, I-"

"Silence." He cut me off then quickly picked me up. "Get some rest, we can discuss this later." Frowning a bit, I looked at him, stared at him, then sighed deciding I should close my eyes and rest. He walked only far enough to find a decent spot to camp out the night. It was in a destroyed house, though the side of it was gone and it overlooked the ocean, the same direction the sun would rise. We were secluded and safe.


	13. Truth of Heart

He moved to lay me down on the ground, removed the staff off my back and placed it nearby. Taking a moment to look me over, he began to carefully remove my armor, he knew the weight of it would slow down the energy I was trying to replenish. Once free of the armor, he picked me up and sat against the wall, laying me down to rest my head in his lap. I lay there, facing towards him, wings spread out towards the horizon to better soak in the sun when it rose.

He then waited, unconsciously running his fingers through my hair. After a couple hours, he began to grow curious. He pulled the small tablet out from behind him and powered it on, then reached down to the memory chip I wore around my neck. Very suddenly the arm I was laying on, snapped up to grab his forearm, stopping him. No words were passed and I reached for my helmet to find it wasn't there. Reaper extended his free hand and used the shadows to move it over towards us. I released his arm and pulled a second chip from the backside of the helmet and handed it to him.

"It isn't...edited." I muttered softly.

"So you're awake?"

"In and out." Letting out a soft sigh, I rest my hand down in his lap beside my head.

"Sleep, and stay asleep until you are recharged." He ordered and I did not reply, instead my eyes closed and I drifted back off.

He moved the memory chip to the corner of the tablet and set it down, it began to glow and the tablet read through the information. He found the fight and began watching it, from the very beginning, to the very end, replaying parts, rewatched my ultimate attack, rewatching everything I did keeping them off of him, all of it. He lowered the tablet to glance down at me, the sky now beginning to light up. He watched me for a long while before the sunlight moved towards us. My wings were soon, fully engulfed by the sunlight and began glowing lightly. Noticing this, he turned off the tablet and set it aside, then replaced the memory chip in the helmet.

Once the helmet was out of the way, he allowed me a moment to wake up. He watched me tense up, then stretch before slowly sitting up and turning my back on him. Still, he said nothing, only watched.

I slowly rubbed the back of my neck and bent my wings, stretching them out. Turning slightly, I looked over at the rising sun and smiled softly, enjoying its warmth. With my eyes closed, I began to think, slowly remember what happened, the smile faded from my face and I turned a bit more to look at Reaper still sitting there, silent, watching me. My frown only grew as I completely turned to face him, never once moving my eyes off of him.

Lifting my hands, I moved towards him but he did not move. I felt him tense when I touched his helmet but yet, he did not stop me. I lifted his helmet, not enough to take it off, but just enough to lean in and kiss him, somewhat passionately. After a moment I pulled back but he still said nothing, only watched me, my face emotionless and yet, I remained silent.

I then moved and straddled his lap, his head turned slightly to adjust to looking up at me, though I was sure it was difficult since his mask was still raised. I lowered his mask for him, shifting it slightly into place before I began to slowly flex my wings out. I then arched them over us, as if to create shade, I watched his head turn slightly towards them, but I knew his eyes remained locked on me. I grabbed his hand and brought it between us, then removed the armor and the glove he wore exposing his hand. I lowered it all to the ground but held his hand there, looking at the scar on his palm. A part of me was still shocked he had it, but it made me smile faintly.

"If you wanted to know if it was still there, all you had to do was ask." He said and my eyes glanced up at him. I did not reply, I simply looked back at his palm and reopened the wound, he made no sound of motion of pain, it inwardly amused me. I then did the same thing to my palm and looked at him.

"Shadow." I said lightly, he seemed confused but then I saw the shadows extend off his forearm, out of his palm. I connected our palms and then took in a deep breath, shuddering. Slowly, my eyes closed as our finger curled around each others. He watched my jaw line clench, then glanced at our hands to see only shadow, there was no light mixing into it.

"Phoenix." He growled angrily moving his hand away. "Don't be so foolish."

"Foolish." Chuckling I opened my eyes looking at my palm. "Not foolish." I licked my palm clean, smiling and looking down at him, "Adapting." My wings tensed, flared out just slightly above us, then faded to black. I didn't know what his reaction was to this display, but I am sure it was some level of shock. Closing my eyes, I focused on the shadows moving through my veins and cast the area around us in shadow, it lingered around us, darkening everything around us, with just enough light coming through to clearly see.

My hands touching his chest is what brought his attention back down to me, still, he found my face emotionless, though my eyes held something different within them, something he didn't quite understand. "Reaper." I said very softly leaning closer to him.

"To what extent do you feel for me?" He asked lowly.

Chuckling, I shook my head, "It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter?" He asked in a angry growl.

"Words can be spoken in either truths, or lies."

"As can actions." I shook my head in a reply and kissed his helmet. I then removed it completely which solicited another angry growl. "Phoenix, we-" I silenced him by kissing him passionately, one he would not deny. I then leaned back forcing him to move with me, so it was easier for me to remove his jacket and quickly unclip his armor. We then broke away from one another and stared each other down. "You want to do this, now?" He asked with a smirk, and I only smirked in return. "Very well." He moved towards me and I shoved him back against the wall, tsk'ing as I did. He then settle back and allowed me to do the work.

I controlled everything we did, for most of the time. I moved at speeds and motions he always did, his one hand that still had the armor on, clawed at my back, pulling me closer, holding me still when he wanted me to stop, maybe to prolong the activity. My wings ended up folded tight against my back, letting him soak in the darkness and recharge in it, even despite our actions. He caught my pace stuttering, me losing control of the situation and he took advantage of that. In a single quick motion, our position had changed. He was on his knees now, as was I, my back pressed tight against his chest, one arm wrapped around my waist holding me still, the other wrapped around my neck, a single sharp talon in my mouth pulling my jaw down.

"Did you think you'd keep control for long? You did good, bird, but it is my turn." He didn't stop until we were both spent and exhausted, I lay on my back now, staring up at him as he hoovered over me, using his arms to keep him upright. We were silent, settling ourselves down before I smiled, tears lining my vision. This, he was taken aback by and wasn't entirely sure what to do.

I was then suddenly hugging him, arms wrapped around his shoulders, face buried in his neck. He let out a long sigh and wrapped an arm around me, the other arm kept us both upright.

After a long moment, my voice stuttered, "I thought I was going to lose you. When you didn't get back up...I was sure that was it. I didn't have enough energy to revive you if you disappeared. I would have lost you for good. I couldn't get that thought out of my head. But...your body...didn't disappear. You just laid there. I thought maybe, just maybe...if I couldn't kill the other two, I could get them down, get them to retreat, then I could focus my energy and save you." I held onto him tighter, he tried to glance over at me, but I held onto him too tight. It was when he felt the wetness on his neck that he finally pulled back, pulling me with him. His other arm wrapped around me and simply held me close to him, but said nothing. "I tried so hard and I failed. I couldn't kill them, couldn't even keep them down. Mercy was always better at healing than me and Soldier...he has years of fighting under his belt that I could never match. My stupidity almost got you killed. You..."

"Be silent." He said softly and I clenched my jaw, keeping my eyes closed. "You cannot kill me. No one can. They can destroy my body but I will simply return. Have no fear."

I chuckled softly shaking my head, "It should never come to that. Ever. I should be stronger, I should be better than that. But...I'm not."

"You are." He growled, somewhat angrily and my body fell still for a moment. I must have irritated him, this emotion I was displaying, of course it was pissing him off.

"I'm sorry." I muttered softly and forced myself away. I kept my back on him as I moved towards my armor and began replacing it, rather quickly.

"Phoenix." He said but I did not reply. I grabbed my helmet and slipped it on then shook my wings, all darkness around us faded away and my wings returned back to their normal color. "Phoenix." He snapped and I turned slightly to look at him. He was standing there, his arms crossed, completely dressed, aside from his helmet, which was in his hand. "Do not ever think of turning your back on me." He hissed and I kept my eyes on him. "Not after displaying an emotion like that."

"I went too far. It was wrong of me, to cry like that." I turned my head away, looking down. I heard an anrgy growl and suddenly I was slammed against the wall, all the air in my lungs were forced out in a gasp as I tensed in pain for a brief moment.

"I know you, Phoenix. I know all about you. You're secluded, loner, your stone cold emotion rivals my own most of the time. You displayed an emotion to me that I know you would never display to anyone. I know what is coursing through your mind. You think I am irritated with the fact I have to console you because you are crying. That is not it." I looked at him. "I am irritated because you have the ability to protect yourself, protect me, I have seen you fight, you are one the best soldiers I have ever known. Your mission was to keep Mercy down, while I concentrated on Soldier. You altered your mission when I fell. Your number one priority was then to protect your fallen team mate, me." I turned my head away frowning. "You did exactly that, your goal wasn't to kill them, it was to get me to safety and we could replan the situation and grow from it. You are not weak. You are not a failure and if I ever hear those words coming out of your mouth again, I will rip out your tongue. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." I said softly, closing my eyes.

"Beyond that," he grabbed my chin and forced me to look over at him. "Only you can ever cry like that in front of me and elicit any kind of consoling emotion. You are not crying for you. You are crying over my well being. Something no one has ever done. Only you."

I smiled then, easing my body against the wall, against him and nodded.

"Good bird." He chuckled and kissed my forehead before backing up and replacing his helmet. Standing upright, I shook out my wings before following him out and back onto the road. We walked in silence for a while and I kept my eyes towards the grounds, though remained listening to our surroundings.

"How did you do it?" He asked and I looked over at him, "your wings."

"The...shadows?" I asked and he nodded. "Something I learned from meditating, with control, you can learn near anything. The first time you put your shadow within me, I could feel it running through my veins, I would play with it, try to learn to control it, but it always faded away. I didn't even know I could do what I did back there, I just kind of...tried it out."

"Can you do it again?"

"No." I sighed. "I wasted all the shadow I stole from you so, unless I get another dose, no more tricks. Of course, I can't do what you can do, all that shadowy stuff, but, I am sure in a pinch it could become useful."

"We will experiment with it, sometime." He said and I nodded, then back into silence. By nightfall, we were walking into Gibralta and I sighed softly looking around. "Do you see anything?"

"No, the place is baren." I muttered and we walked into the lab as before. "Well, since this place is dead, I am going to wash up." I said waving him off and separating from him.

"I will inspect the rest of the grounds." He replied, but I said nothing slipping into the other room. I took my time showering, cleaning myself up completely, then afterwards, cleaned off my armor before returning to the other room. He still had not returned and I sighed taking to sitting on a chair wiping down my staff.


	14. Final Plan

I heard the door open sometime later and stood defensively. Reaper returned to the room and pushed right past me. I knew something was wrong, something was bothering him, he was beyond pissed. Gritting my teeth, I moved after him.

"Reaper, what's wrong?" I asked but he ignored me. Quickening my pace, I caught up to his side and touched his arm but he shoved it off. "Reaper? What's wrong? What has you so bothered?" I asked a bit more worried, but he slammed his hands on the table, hunching over, silent otherwise. I let a moment pass before I moved a bit closer touching his back just lightly. "Talk to me, I only want to-" He suddenly swung around, I wasn't sure if it was his open palm or fist that collided with the side of my face, but it sent me down to the ground.

He tensed up standing there, staring at me, "Phoenx, I didn't..." He trailed off as I brought a hand to my face and rubbed my cheek just slightly, the best I could with my helmet on.

"You told me, a few months ago, we were in this together. We would work together, share information...help one another." I said softly and spit out some blood on the floor. "I see now that is incorrect." I moved to a knee and bowed. "I am still but a servant to a dark master. Forgive me for overstepping."

"It isn't like that." He growled but I kept my head low.

"Forgive me for worrying. I will excuse myself." Standing, I turned my back on him and walked towards the door. He called my name, but I ignored him, leaving the building completely. I found the highest roof of the building and flew up to it. Removing my helmet, I set it down on a vent and continued walking across the rooftop to sit on the edge. I threw one leg off the edge and set my foot on the edge to wrap an arm around my knee, my other hand made it to my mouth where I felt the wound and healed it up.

With a sigh, I spit out some blood and made a disgusted face a second before turning my glance towards the full moon. A minute or two passed and I felt something wet on my cheek, hesitating a moment, I brought my free hand up to it and looked at my finger tips. "What a waste of tears." I growled under my breath then used my forearm to wipe them all away, still I couldn't stop softly crying. Was I that hurt by his actions? It was justified, he wanted to be alone and I pushed him, his reaction was completely understandable. So why was I crying? I felt a chill run up my spine and sighed softly, closing my eyes.

"Phoenix, let me explain." He said from behind me and I didn't move, nor respond, neither did he. For a long while there was no movement or sound between us, I refused to even turn to look at him. "Phoenix, I..." He stopped again and I kept my eyes towards the ground below. "Are you alright?" He asked, causing me to smirk, he knew I could heal, it was a stupid question. "Of course you're alright physically, I know that much. Mentally, are you alright?" I lifted my head slightly and lost my smirk. No, I wasn't, but I wouldn't tell him that. "It was wrong of me to hit you, you were only concerned for my well being. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't." I growled and he silenced for only a brief second.

"Do not tell me to silence." He hissed and I turned my head just barely as if to turn my attention towards him. "I know what's running through your head. You think what I did was justified, that I hit you out of anger I could not control. Whether you believe it or not, hitting you was not right, you did not deserve my anger for I was not mad at you. Is that clear?" I bowed my head and turned it away. "I thank you for your concern and I apologize for hitting you."

Slowly, I stood and stretched out my wings, long and wide before folding them on my back and resting a hand on my hip. "What am I to you?" I asked.

"What?"

Turning, I faced him and met his eyes, even through his mask, I knew where to look. "What am I to you?"

"What kind of question is that?" He asked and I moved my hand off my hip before folding my arms across my chest. Letting out a long sigh, he looked away from me, as if thinking a long moment. "You are my partner, you are my equal, you are..." he trailed off and hesitated. He knew that wasn't what I was looking for. "Only you." He said softly then turned to look at me, then unclipped his mask lowering it to his side. "It is only you, it's always been, only you." He walked towards me and with his free hand, ran a hand over my cheek. "You are my friend, my companion, a warm body at my side, the light in my darkened life. My one and only, forever, lover. You are not my servant, you never have been, you never will be, is that clear?"

Smiling softly, I nodded and leaned up to kiss him softly. After I pulled back, I stared at him a long moment before I opened my mouth to say something.

Instead, he cut me off, "what bothered me?" He asked and I nodded. "I was tracked down by some Omnic, who weren't interested in fighting, they wanted to deliver a message."

"A message?" I asked and he nodded.

"They offered me rule over the humans, under their command, if I turned you in." Tensing up, I pulled away from him and turned my back on him.

"They offered you, everything you have ever wanted, at the simple request of bringing me in?"

"Yes."

A long moment of silence passed before I chuckled and turned to look at him. "Do it."

"What? Are you insane?"

"It will bring you right into the base, you can find the mainframe and destroy it. Then, blow up the base."

"But, what about you? I can turn you in, destroy the base with no issue but, if I don't get to you in time, you'll-"

"Destroy the mainframe, destroy the base, don't worry about me."

"And let you die?!" He snapped coming closer.

This caused me to smile, turning my head to look up at him, "You can't kill me Reaper, I'm already dead. I will revive myself after the main explosions and use the fire to escape, the omnic will burn, the mainframe destroyed, there will be no army to command, the Omnic will be freed."

"This plan has a horrible downside. You might revive but that doesn't mean you'll get out safe. You could die, permanently."

"Yes, I could, that is true. But what is one lifes sacrifice to save all of man kind? You will be the one to stand above it all, the one who saved all life on earth. In the end, wasn't that what you wanted?"

"With you there!" He snapped, gritting his teeth.

"Then I will make it out of there alive, don't worry. What is important is that we have found a way inside the base with little fighting. You get in, make your deal, as you leave, slip into shadow mode, find the main reactor, plant some explosives, done. They have given us an opening, a weak spot, so let's take it!"

"They won't believe it, they know how close you and I are."

"Then we walk in, like nothing is wrong, guns drawn as if we are going to fight. Get in there, hit me with your gun, knock me down, offer me up, continue on as planned."

"You're okay with this?"

"Yes." I said simply. "It's my choice to put myself up for risk, I am willing to take it, are you?"

He stared at me a long few seconds before he sighed and nodded, "alright, let's do it."

"Right, there should be an extra jet laying around here somewhere, locate it. We will travel there and get this over with."

"Tonight?" He asked and I stared at him curiously a long moment. "No. We will wait until tomorrow. Tonight we will rest."

Chuckling, I bowed my head, "Of course." I said softly and he grabbed me suddenly pulling me close, shadows wrapped around us before he teleported us back into the main lab and stepped away from me. I heard him open his mouth, breath as if he was about to say something, but I smirked, spread my wings and took off from him.

"Phoenix."

"Reaper~" I said in a sing song voice hanging by the door to the hallway.

"No games."

"Oh, yes games." I blew him a kiss then disappeared down the hallway. Sighing, he followed after me. He stepped into the room at the end of the hall, a large barracks, and looked around, only to find my armor was sitting neatly on a table and I was sitting beside it spinning my staff around. He chuckled darkly to himself and approached me, shedding himself of his armor.


	15. All Too Easy?

Late into the afternoon, I rolled over, stretching. I felt more satisfied than I ever had before in my life. I was beaming with happiness.

"About time you woke up." He growled lowly and I glanced over to see him leaning on the wall beside the bed.

"Terribly sorry, I haven't slept late in quite a long time." I muttered sitting up, resting my feet on the ground, back to him.

"Really? Just a month ago you were unconscious for a couple weeks."

"That's different." I mumbled looking over at him from over my shoulder. I stared at him a long moment. "Oh no, you're brooding. What is it?" I asked turning more towards him.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." He said standing upright and heading towards the door. Growling, I jumped up and rushed in front of him crossing my arms, wings spread wide to keep him from passing me. "You're naked."

"So? Not like you haven't seen it before." I huffed. He chuckled and then I saw his head move as if he was eyeing me up. Blushing, panicking, I wrapped my wings around myself.

"See? Get dressed, we are leaving soon." He said walking around me.

"Yes, sir!" I chuckled and moved over to my armor. The moment he was gone I sighed, frowning lightly. I knew why he was upset, this plan we were going to do, could backfire horribly. I knew that is what was on his mind, but he wouldn't speak it.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to shake off the thought and put on all my armor before heading out to meet him outside. The jet sat there, ready to go and we stared at one another a long moment.

"Where is your staff?" He asked and I sighed softly.

"I left it. I will have no use for it and I would rather it stay somewhere safe." I muttered lightly. "My pistol will be enough. Let's go." I said hopping in the jet and he followed after. Soon enough we were in the sky heading towards the Omnic base.

Much to my surprise, we were not met with any defense, we landed as close as we could and headed inside with no one to stop us. "Weird." I muttered softly taking the lead, but he remained close behind me, silent. The hallway led to a large open, circular room and I glanced around before my eyes set upon Ghalts. Tensing up I reached for my pistol, pulling it out.

"As requested." Reaper said to Ghalt and I then felt a powerful blow of his shotgun to the back of my head. I hit the ground hard and he moved up beside me, kicking the pistol away. "I bring her to you, you give me what I want."

"Yes, yes, as promised." He said waving his hand.

"Reaper?" I gasped turning to look over at him, "I don't understand...how could you...?"

"I told you, Phoenix, I am unable to love. The Omnic came to me, told me of your value, playing you into my hand was easy." He chuckled then kicked me over onto my back, his foot pressed against my throat. "I appreciate your dedication, but I have myself to look after."

I gasped out for breath but couldn't reply back to him, only closed my eyes trying to remove his boot from my throat. I actually tried to push his boot off but it wouldn't budge. Fear set in my heart that this was all real.

"Take her to her cell. I will deal with her later." Ghalt said and then true, tremendous fear set in. I panicked.

"N-no!" I shouted as Omnic grabbed me dragging me off. "Wait, wait! Ghalt!" I shouted out at him. "Give me a chance please!"

"What chance could I give you?" He laughed staring at me as I tried to think of something.

"I-I...I'll work for you. Soley for you. Do your bidding, whatever you wish. I'll fight for you, lead you to all the hideouts I know of, help you finish taking over the world, anything...anything...just not that cell." I said sobbing softly. True terror, tears pouring down the side of my face. Maybe this all was real.

"Alright, I'll give you a chance." He said, this I was shocked by. "Reaper, come here." He ordered and the Demon approached. "stand, Phoenix." He said and I slowly made it to my feet, both Reaper and I were just out of arms reach of one another, staring each other down. "I know of your heart, Phoenix. You don't have the courage to kill someone. Not unless threatened." He purred softly moving close to the side of my face. "I doubt you can do as you say you can." I looked down, my whole body was trembling in pure terror. "Reaper, give her one of your guns." He said and I saw Reaper hesitate before he handed me a shotgun. It was heavy as I expected and the shadows began curling over my hand. "Now point it at him." He said and I looked sharply at Ghalt. "Come now, don't hesitate." I nodded and pulled the shotgun up, pointing it directly at Reapers face. "Pull the trigger."

"What?" I gasped.

"Come now, pull the trigger and I will free you of the cell."

Reaper chuckled raising the shotgun pointing it directly at me. "Do not think I will stand idly by and be killed."

"Oh! As expected! This will turn into a delightful game!" Ghalt laughed and took several steps back. The two Omnic in the room with us were then dismissed, leaving just the three of us alone. "Let's see who can pull the trigger first. When I count to three, pull the trigger. Ready? One..." I rest my finger on the trigger as we stared each other down. "Two..." I smiled very gently, softly, tears now freely pouring down the side of my face.

"I love you." I said softly and he was taken aback by this.

"Thr-" I pulled the trigger and Reaper fell back, he didn't move for a long moment and I watched his body fall apart into pieces, fading away into shadow. "What a fantastic show!" Ghalt cheered as I dropped the gun and covered my mouth with my hand, sobbing uncontrollably. "Congratulations, Phoenix, you have won your prize!" He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "But do not think you're free of my punishments." He hissed in my ear, causing my eyes to close. "You will fight for me, bleed for me, conquer for me and when you return to your new home, I will punish you in every way I desire if you even so much as think about running and hiding, I will rip your body apart and make sure you are unable to revive. Are we understood?"

"Yes...sir..." I stuttered staring at the soul floating in the air before me, something I knew only I could see.

"Good girl." He turned me around and began walking me from the room, towards the hallway. Closing my eyes, I let out a shaky breath and waved my hand, my power touching the soul and the soul disappeared. The shadow that formed was quick to react and disappeared from the room.

I was brought into a small bedroom, ugly and most of the furnishings were unsuable. "This will be your home. You are not allowed to leave this room without me, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes, sir." I mumbled looking down.

"Rest well, Phoenix, for tomorr-" There was a huge explosion on one side of the base and the whole building shook. I grabbed onto the crumbling bed for support and gasped looking around, that quick? There was another loud explosion and I watched Ghalt fall to his knees, writhing in pain for a moment. Was this it? I took my chance, and spread my wings consuming the fire from outside the windows to power up. It was a little amount, but it was enough. Thrusting forward, I grabbed Ghalts neck and crushed his windpipe burning my hand.

"I will never serve you." I hissed softly and another explosion hit somewhere close to the room, the ceiling began falling but I remained where I was, burning his entire body away. The flames grew white, hot enough to even melt the metal of his skeleton. Even if the mainframe was not here in this base, Ghalt was not getting back up.

Once that was done, I rushed to the door, only to have it explode in my face and fling me from the room. I crashed through a couple weak walls, and into another room that was completely ablaze. Coughing slightly, I sat upright and looked around, I couldn't find an exit.

"Reaper..." I muttered softly. "Get out." Closing my eyes, I spread my wings wide and bowed my head remaining on my knees. Arching my wings up, I began consuming all of the fire in the room, instead of soaking them into my wings as I had before, the fire began balling between the two points of my wings. It was a long, tiring process, I refused to stop draining the fire until I could no more. My body writhing in pain, trying to get me to stop, but I refused.

On the opposite end of the building, Reaper was setting off a few more computers, setting more explosives and then moving into shadow to avoid damage. He looked at his handiwork, knowing that he was victorious in destroying the base. He moved to exit the building when he saw something peculiar. The fire was not acting normal, it seemed to be moving. All of it, was draining back towards the center of the building, trailing away.

Tensing up, he stared down the hall towards where the fire was heading and let out a low growl debating his decision. Cursing himself, he then began running.

The talons of my armor dug deep into the flooring beneath me, trying to keep me steady as the ball only grew and grew to a massive size, until I could hold it no more. Opening my eyes, I stretched my wings and lowered my head to stare at the ground. "This is it." I chuckled. "Sorry, I failed you again." I muttered and swear for the briefest moment, I saw a shadow zip across my vision. Assuming it was power loss, I shook it off and took a deep breath. Then, in one thrust of my wings, the entire building exploded. Everything within the building was incinerated, leaving nothing but ashes behind, the fire, controlled enough that once it hit the outer limits it stopped, hitting an invisible force field and bounced back. All underground tunnels and computers, mainframes and wirings was followed by the fire and destroyed as far as it could travel. Then, all disappeared, leaving nothing but a giant crater behind.


	16. Cornered

I let out a gasp of breath and opened my eyes realizing at that very moment, I was not dead. I tried to move only to find my body wouldn't comply. I saw shadows wisping around in my vision and instantly realized I couldn't move my body because I was a shadow. Once I was lowered onto the ground, the shadows disappeared and I looked over to see Reaper kneeling beside me.

"You...came back for me?" I asked softly and he bowed his head. "Why?" I asked tears lining my vision. He reached over and removed my helmet, then ran a hand across my cheek. "Reaper, I don't understand..." He removed his helmet, "you could have-" I was cut off as his lips crashed into mine and held me possessively against him.

When he pulled back, he stared down at me and chuckled softly, "you're an idiot."

"The plan changed." I said softly and he nodded. We both heard jets, several of them and he sighed putting on his helmet. Then I slipped mine on as well. "Looks like it's not over yet."

"It never is." He said helping me up and holding me on my feet.

I glanced up and gasped, "That's not Omnic it's..." I trailed off.

"Overwatch." He growled and ropes were thrown down around us, solders began falling out of it, landing and pointing their guns at us.

"So, what do we do boss?" I asked turning slightly to look behind us. "There's about...fifty of them and two of us. I don't have any of my weapons and...pretty sure I can't even fight." I muttered wincing slightly, my wings lowering themselves to the ground, I had no energy to hold them up. Reaper felt it and pulled me closer.

"Gabriel." A voice boomed and we looked over to see 76 walking out of a lowered jet.

"Fuck." I hissed wrapping an arm around my waist.

"Care to explain what's going on here?" He asked as they stared one another down.

"I think it's pretty obvious what happened. You were all close enough to the explosion to see exactly what happened." Reaper retorted and 76 glanced over at me.

"As I assumed. We've been observing this base for sometime. Any attempt to get close to it has led in failure, yet you two snuck right in and did all this."

"Yea, well, we're good for something." I muttered pushing more weight into Reaper.

"You two are still wanted criminals, yet, you two just ended all of the Omnics reign over the human population."

"How do you know it is truly over?" Reaper asked. "This was one base, there are more."

"Yes, there are more, but this was the main hub, where the central computer was running. Most of the Omnic have already fallen, the other bases that were under surveillance are being overturned and destroyed as we speak." 76 said.

"It was Ghalt." I said looking up at him.

"What did you say?" 76 hissed.

"I killed Ghalt...years ago...because of this..."

"What do you mean?" He asked and my knees gave out, I crumbled to the ground, Reaper was quick enough to stop me from completely falling, but ended up on his knees holding me there.

"Sorry, sorry...just low on energy."

"Sun won't be up for a few more hours."

"I know, I'll be fine." I smiled up at him.

"Come with us." 76 said and Reaper looked over.

"Don't think I am stupid, Morrison. I will not be heading back to your base with you." He hissed and I tightened my grip on Reapers arm, causing him to look down at me.

"Gibralta isn't far. Whatever is left of it. Just the three of us. I think we should talk." 76 said and Reaper stared at me for a moment, until I gave him a smile and soft nod.

"Fine." Reaper hissed. "If you think, even for a moment, of raising your gun and fighting, I will take you down."

"You have my word, Reyes. I owe you at least that much for what you two did." Reaper then picked me up and walked me away from him. "Gibralta?"

"Gibralta." He said and shifted into a shadow heading towards the jet we brought. It was slightly scorched but he placed me inside and flew us back to Gibralta. Once there, he walked me inside and set me on a barrack before watching me closely. "Why aren't you resting?" He asked.

"I'll be fine, just lack of energy." I chuckled softly. "Besides, I should be awake for this talk."

"I don't think that is necessary, besides, you need rest."

"I will rest." I assured. "After. Just bring me my staff, I powered it up before I left, just in case. It will give me enough energy and radiate enough sunlight to keep me moving." I said and he nodded walking away from me, across the room to the staff, then brought it over. Once he handed it to me, it began to glow.

Taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and slowly sat up. "Do you need help?"

"I might, yes. Just...to the lab, we can sit and talk in there." I responded, watching him, instead of saying anything, he helped me stand and walked me into the other room, sitting me down. Then he stood beside me, on edge as the door opened.


	17. Ending Story

True to his word, Jack walked in alone. "How many followed you here?" Reaper growled.

"No one, just me." He said. Reaper looked down at me and I turned my head, looking around the room, spotting anything outside. I then looked up at Reaper and shook my head.

"How many?"

"One." I answered him and Reaper hissed grabbing his shotguns.

"You lie, Morrison."

"Right, right." He said raising his hand. "I figured she could use a doctor so..." he turned slightly and called out a name. Then Mercy walked in smiling lightly. "I brought her along to help."

"Why the sudden kindness?"

"You ended a ten year war that almost destroyed all of humanity. At least, for the night, I can put aside our differences and offer aid."

"So you say, but can you be so assured I feel the same?" Reaper hissed.

"That's for you to say, Reyes."

"Just...for the night." I whispered softly. "We can't fight, Reaper, not right now." I looked up at him and he stared at me before nodding slightly and looking back at 76.

"Only for the night." Reaper hissed.

Mercy smiled and approached the two of us, she then kneeled down in front of me and began looking me over, but Reaper stood close by, watching.

"I want the story, in full." Jack said and Reaper said nothing, only watched the two of them.

"In full?" I asked and he nodded. "It starts a long time ago, Jack, are you sure you want the full story?"

"Even if it takes all night."

Sighing I nodded, "Alright. I was raised by an Omnic parent, and robot, I was an orphan and it raised me, taught me all that I know about healing people, protecting people. When the Omnics attacked the first time, I offered my aid, as you know. Ghalt found my parent and killed him."

"Why single him out?" Mercy asked and I glanced down frowning.

"He knew Ghalt's secret. Ghalt was secretly an Omnic, helping run Overwatch to prove Omnics were not truly bad. It was a pure intention, then Ghalt began turning dark. He discovered humanity would never adapt to living alongside Omnic, so he staged a war."

"The first crisis?" Jack asked.

I nodded, "this war was supposed to end as the second crisis did but...it didn't quite happen that way."

"Because he died." Mercy said and I glanced up at Jack.

"Because you killed him." He said causing me to nod again.

"I will admit, at the time, I did not know Ghalt's true intentions. I only knew he killed my parent, someone who would do no harm to anyone or anything. It was later on when I was kidnapped by the newly resurrected Ghalt that I learned of what was really going on."

"Then how did you two end up killing him again and ending the war?"

"I was offered a sizeable reward, all I had to do was turn her into Ghalt. We were allowed to freely walk into the base with no challenge." Reaper said and I nodded.

"We staged a show, he turned me in, and together we destroyed the base. Simple as that."

"But...why?" Jack asked. "Neither of you care about what happens to humanity. Reyes, you want to destroy all of Overwatch and you, Phoenix want the same."

"Do we?" I asked before Reaper could say anything. Mercy then slowly stood, pulling out her staff, but hesitated. "Reaper wanted to kill everyone who betrayed him. You, betrayed him."

"So, you are twisted by his lies too?" He hissed.

I shifted in my chair, wincing slightly. "I was never, formally, apart of Overwatch, so I could see everything as the public does. Overwatch led the way in protecting the people. Leading front lines, protecting innocents, and in covert ops to stop serious threats."

"Yes, so?" Jack asked.

"Who always received all of the credit? He said nothing. "Jack Morrison. Leader of Overwatch, oversaw every step, every plan, every actions, he got all the credit for everything good that ever happened to Overwatch. Got a statue erected in his honor. He was seen as a hero. But what about the other face running Overwatch? Doing all the dirty work? The covert? Blackwatch? Every single thing Blackwatch did, you received credit for, not Reyes. I will admit, he is volatile, violent, brash, and his anger is hard to control, so you should have seen him approaching you on this at some point, just not to the extent it ended up being."

"Thanks to that wonderful conversation, we ended up sparking the hatred for Overwatch, destroying an entire headquarters and killing many innocent lives." Jack growled glaring at Reaper.

"And out of all the lives killed that day, who was dragged from the rubble and revived?" I said, once again before Reaper could say anything. "Jack Morrison. Brought back to life, given a new purpose, because he was the hero, the leader, of Overwatch. And what happened to the man named Gabriel Reyes?" Silence in the room. "He was left to decay in the rubble of the headquarters. Not even his supposed friend, Jack Morrison would have sent a team in to find him. Instead, that same Jack Morrison would take over the disloyal members of Blackwatch and fit them into Overwatch while running off those loyal to Reyes. Thus, sparking the hatred you now know."

Only silence filled the room for a long minute or two.

Sighing I looked away, "and then, you fed into Ghalt's hands without even knowing it. Processing every Omnic in existence, as if they were cattle. While I do understand the severity of the issue, you were played and thus thanks to your actions, sparked an uprising within the Omnic factions, which led to the second crisis. This is all coming from someone who saw all of Overwatch from the eyes of the public." Still, only silence. I looked at Mercy and smiled lightly. "As for me, I don't like killing. I avoid it as much as I possibly can. You sent those agents after me, I tried talking them into leaving me alone, but seeing as I could either kill them, or be killed, I protected myself. I never hunter anyone except Ghalt, and you." I said looking back over at 76. "If I didn't kill you, you would keep sending agents my way and I wanted to live in peace and you wouldn't listen to reason."

"So, Reaper, you are killing the Overwatch agents that betrayed you? Is that this mission you were on?" Jack asked, but Reaper said nothing. "And what now, now that all of those agents you worked with are dead or retired, will you still hunt after them?" Still no answer. "I will be there to stop you, if you so try."

"Try me." Reaper hissed.

"Boys, now, now. We promised we'd get along tonight." Mercy said with a nervous chuckle. "And...I do have a patient to care for so I'd rather not heal anyone else up tonight."

"I'm fine, Mercy. Your healing won't do my any good, I need sunlight. I appreciate your offering." I said lightly, smiling just gently up at her.

"Are you sure?"

"I am, thank you."

"Alright then." She said lowering her staff.

"Are we done here, or are there more questions that need to be answered?" I asked looking over at 76, there was no response. "It isn't like you can't track us down if you have any more questions."

"We've been tracking him down for ten years." He snapped pointing at Reaper.

"I meant it as a joke, Jack." I mused, thought he wasn't interested in hearing it. "If that's all, I would like to rest the night. I promise you, for the time being we will behave. The world needs to rebuild after all."

"And are you going to stay here?" Mercy asked.

"Why would we tell you that? So you can send your army in and kill us?" Reaper hissed.

"No. Gibralta is a safe zone. I owe you that much. This place, is yours. In light of recent actions, I am clearing your ledger, both of you. Anything that happened in the past is gone as far as I am concerned. Any step outside the line of right, we will hunt you down."

"Understood." I said and they stared at us a moment before heading towards the door. "Oh, 76?" I called out and he turned to look. "when you return to te main city and make the announcement...make sure you give credit where credit is due. We will hear the news. So try not to lie, yea?"

"You two will be named, you two saved all of humanity." He said and they both left. We waited a long while to make sure they were gone for good before I let out a soft sigh.

"Go ahead, say it." I muttered.

"Say what?"

"You're pissed at me for my actions, I nearly died, for answering all the question, cutting you off. Say it."

"No." He answered simply and began walking away from me.

"Where are you going?" I asked sitting upright.

"Our mission is complete, we have nothing further to do with one another." He said and it felt like I was stabbed through the heart. I didn't even know what to say, how to react, was this real? I forced myself to stand, though my legs were shaky for a brief second. I watched his body fade off into shadow and then I was alone.


	18. Only You

"So it was all..." I muttered to myself, wrapping my arms around my body, my head dropped. I removed my helmet and dropped it to the ground. "It was all..."

"It was all what?" A voice from behind me said and I spun around only to find his body pressed against mine, lips embraced passionately. After a long couple of moments he pulled back and smirked, "you didn't really think I meant it did you?"

"You...you..." I growled softly and began crying. "I hate you so much."

"No you don't." He sneered pulling me closer. "I only wanted to strike as much fear in your heart as you placed on me."

"What do you mean?" I sobbed wiping my face clear.

"What you were doing was suicidal. You would have died had I not been there."

"Yea? Well you actually tried killing me in front of Ghalt, you almost crushed my windpipe!" I snapped.

"And you pulled the trigger first." He said causing me to tense and silence. "I'm proud of you. You reacted to the situation at hand and did not let me down. Tonight, was a success." Then his smile turned into a smirk, "but I don't care about any of that, it's over. What I do care about is something else you said."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked blushing and trying to pull away from him. "I didn't say anything."

"You did, right before you pulled the trigger."

"I only said it to throw you off guard so you wouldn't pull the trigger!" I shouted and he released me letting me drop to the ground. I looked up at him, face red. "I-I mean...I..." I trailed off thinking. "Alright..." closing my eyes, I turned my head away.

"Say it again." He said glaring down at me. I remained silent. "Phoenix." He snapped causing me to wince. "Say. It. Again."

"I love you." I muttered glancing up at him. "I love you, I have for a while now, the moment we first fought Omnic together, when I put up the shield to protect you...and I stopped you before you left. I wanted to tell it to you right then and there, but I couldn't...but I..." I sighed. "I love you, Gabriel Reyes. I love you, Reaper. And for the rest of my life, no matter what happens after this, I want us to do it, together."

"Again." He purred moving closer to me. "Say it again. Over and over again." there was something eerily demonic in his tone as he pushed me to the ground. "I want to hear nothing else, just repeat it over and over." he growled biting my neck.

And I did, over and over and over again, until I could no longer speak, until I lay passed out, I repeated it for him as he consumed my body for his pleasure and my own.

When I woke up the next morning and rolled over to find him laying there with me, simply watching me I smiled. I didn't know where life would go after this point and I didn't care, as long as we did it together, nothing mattered


End file.
